Hana
by Aquarius Orchid
Summary: What happens when you live in a world where your very existence itself is a taboo? How can Sakura live life peacefully when she can't accept who she is? AU Elves and Humans [SasuSaku]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer** : **I do not own Naruto or any or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **A/N:** Soooo this is my first fanfiction, I hope you guys like it. Reviews will greatly be appreciated!

 **Summary:** What happens when you live in a world where your very existence itself is a taboo? How can Sakura live life peacefully when she can't accept who she is?

 _When Love turns to Ashes_

The wind blows gently across the field of tall grass and flowers as two young children play in the fields trying the catch what blows in the wind. The youngest of the two around 7 years old stopped running and looked down at the ground. There hidden by the tall grass the most beautiful flower the young girl has ever laid her eyes upon. Jade eyes sparkle as she gently picks the flower and held it up to the sun's rays to get a better look. There she sees colors of light pink, magenta and along the shape of the petals was a thin white line outlining each petal. She touched the petals of the flower and it felt like velvet and she smiled at her discovery.

"Now isn't that a pretty orchid, it's the same color as your hair Sakura."

A boy around 12 years old with medium long dark brown hair and just like his sister a pair of jade eyes and fair skin commented.

"Do you think mama will like them Cai?" Sakura questioned.

"I think she will love them sis, how about you pick some more so you can make a bouquet for her?" Cai suggested.

Sakura nodded in excitement and went searching the field for more for the beautiful orchid. Sakura really wanted to make her mama happy since it was her birthday today. Sakura giggled at the thought of her mother seeing the wonderful bouquet her and Cai have created. After Sakura collected as many orchids as she can, she looked at them and something seemed missing. Then an idea hit her and she reached behind her head with both hands and untied a red ribbon that neatly held her hair in place. Then she tied the red ribbon around the stems of the orchids and with her brother's help, a neat red bow tie held the flowers together. Both children smiled.

"Perfect, now lets head back before mother scolds us for being late to dinner."

* * *

After trekking through the thick forest for about half an hour, the siblings reached their home. A small cottage, with wooden frames and stone walls eroded from weather and time. It was old and a bit run down but the flowers surrounding it made it more alive. Upon arrival both siblings flinched when they heard their mother call out to them in a tone of voice any child would know when their parent is upset with them. A woman came out from the vegetable gardens with a sun hat and a knee length light green sleeveless summer dress with a white gardening apron along with a pair of brown gardening gloves. Reika is beautiful woman with long flowing pastel pink hair, emerald eyes that can make a man melt to his knees and fair skin any woman would be envious of. Reika is a kind and gentle woman but often worry for her children. Their mother took off her gloves and put both hands on her hips.

"I was wondering where my children have run off to" Reika said eyeing her two young ones with suspicion.

"Cai and I weren't out causing trouble mama, we were out playing in the fields and found this! Happy birthday mama!" Sakura showed her mother the bouquet of flowers her and Cai assembled.

Emerald eyes soften at the gift and Reika accepted the flowers and held them up to her face and inhaled the sweet smell of the orchids and smiled.

"They are absolutely beautiful sweetheart. Thank you" she kneeled down to hug her children.

Reika stood back up and looked at her children and thinking how fast they are growing up. Cai is her oldest and growing fast, he has his father's dark brown hair and sharp nose. He has her eyes and skin complexion. Sakura on the other hand is a spitting image of her but for one thing.

"Cai, you have grass in your hair." Sakura pointed out.

"Yeah, Yeah I got it" Cai started to ruffle his hair to get the grass out of his hair revealing the reason why the small family live in the forest. Once Cai got all the grass out of his hair the wind started picking up and blew his hair that was covering the sides of his face back revealing short pointed ears. Sakura stared at her brother in envy and pouted.

"Mama, why don't I have pointy ears like you or Cai?" Sakura expressed in a depressed tone.

"Hey I think you looking fully human is better for your safety sis. Plus you and father can go into town for items we need since mother and I can't go ourselves." Cai explained.

"It's not fair!" Sakura yelled at the top of her lungs with tears forming in her eyes.

"Why do you and mama have to suffer and always stay home while papa and I are able to go out to the towns like regular humans...it's just not fair...I hate seeing you and mama sad." Sakura is fully crying now.

Sakura is sad because she knows about the never ending conflict between humans and elves. How many elves are forced into hiding after the war years ago. How she and her brother are children of an elven mother and a human father. A taboo punishable by death if caught. To Sakura's knowledge children born of an elf and human the child is always born with shorter ears than their elven parent. In Sakura's case she was born with human looking ears just like her father but she inherited her mother's elven beauty. Pink hair is not a common trait in humans, red hair yes but nowhere near pink.

Reika's heart broke at the sight of her daughter crying and started tearing up. Cai went to hug his sister to comfort her. They knew how much Sakura loved them through her tears for them and wanting to share the burden. Once Sakura settled down and wiped her tears away using the sleeve of her shirt she looked up at her mother.

"Why do people hate us mama?" Sakura said in a quiet low tone.

Reika looked at her daughter and thought about on what to say.

"I don't think they truly hate us sweetie, I think they are more scared of us than we are of them."

"Scared of us? But we aren't scary looking mama nor do we try to hurt them.."

"People are afraid of things they don't understand. It will take time but one day I believe that elves and humans can coexist together without conflict and in peace." Reika explained with a smile.

Sakura went to hug her mother in a warm embrace and her mother returned the hug gently caressing her back in reassurance.

"I hope that day comes soon. I want to see you and Cai happy and able to go on trips to town with papa and me. Plus my feet always hurt after the long walk back." Sakura said frowning. They all laughed.

"Sakura, don't forget we have the best of both worlds!" Cai said with a toothy grin.

"Alright you two it's almost time for dinner and you father will be coming back home soon." the two sibling scurried into their home and Reika just before she headed in,looked at the setting sun and smiled, thankful for her little family.

* * *

Sakura looked out the window and back at her now semi-cold dinner. It was already starting to get dark outside and her father still hasn't arrived home from work. She glanced at her mother who had a worried look on her face.

"I'm soooo hungry.." Cai complained as his stomach growled. Sakura's stomach was starting to protest too and frowned.

"Cai, Sakura, you can eat your dinner without me, I'm going to wait for your father."

Cai did not hesitate to eat his dinner but Sakura looked down at her plate and ate a little bit.

 _"Papa is never home late."_ Sakura thought.

Sakura ate quickly and got up from her chair at the dinner table and to put on her boots.

"Where do you think you are going at this hour?" Reika said with her eyes narrowed.

"Only I can go out and find where papa is, plus I know the way to his workplace." Sakura explained as she was lacing up her boots.

"It's late and dark outside, you can't see a thing." Sakura's mother countered angrily.

Sakura turned to her mother fully dressed with a smirk on her face.

"I have elf night vision thanks to you mama" and with that Sakura ran out the door.

"SAK-" and the door slams before Reika can even say Sakura's name.

"That child of mine..seriously I swear she takes after her father." Reika couldn't help but smile to herself just discovering that Sakura is starting to develop her elven abilities at a young age.

"She will be fine mother, her night vision is better than mine. Also..do you think Sakura will be mad that I ate her slice of the cake?" Cai laughed nervously. Reika just facepalmed and sighed.

"It will be our little secret".

* * *

The moon was full that night allowing sakura to see even better in the dark. She is starting to just learn how to use her elven vision to see far away. Just like a hawk in the sky looking for prey, a bird's eye view. Not to mention the night vision is also a new ability she has just grasp a few weeks earlier while looking out the window randomly one night and saw a whole different world out there. Sakura is determined to master her growing abilities so she can protect her brother and mother.

 _"Now to head to , that's where papa works"_

Upon arriving at her father's place of work she spotted a man piling wooden crates on the side of the building and headed towards his direction. The middle aged man spotted her quickly thanks to her pink hair that is now glowing in the light of the moon.

"You must be Sakura, Aiden's kid right?" The man said while scratching his neck.

"Yes, that's my papa. Have you seen him? He hasn't come home yet mister..."

"Just call me Lewis dear and yeah I've seen your dad around. The last I saw him was actually a few hours ago to be exact. I saw him talking to a bunch of soldiers from the capital and boy they did not look friendly." Lewis said with a worried look.

"I hope your father didn't get himself in any trouble, well you should head home Sakura it's pretty dark out, do you need a lamp?"

"I'm fine and thanks!" with that Sakura rushed back home.

 _"Why would soldiers from the capital go after papa? He used to be the captain of the royal guard."_ Sakura thought as she was making her way back home. She had this bad feeling in the pit of her stomach and ran home. She ran as fast as her short legs can carry her but it felt as if time was slowing down for her as she got closer and closer. Panting and out of breathe she can only think about her mama, papa and big brother Cai. Tears were starting to form in her eyes as she inched closer to her destination. Then she saw the light of the lamps from her home emitting from behind the trees and a sigh of relief swept over her pace slowed down. "Papa must have just arrived home". Now she was excited to finally celebrate her mother's birthday with her whole family. Sakura was making her way through the last couple of trees and thick bushes and finally stepped out into the open and her smile morphed into the look of pure horror.

* * *

 _Fire_ _._

All she can hear is screaming and yelling. The sound of death. Sakura stood there paralyzed.

"You bastard Claude! You said you would protect my family!"Aiden yelled at his former vice captain.  
Aiden who's hands were bound behind him and has sustained many injuries to his face and body was being held back by two soldiers.

The garden was on fire, the flowers were all burning and withering away just like paper. And slowly crept towards the small cottage. A man adorned in mithril armor with a gold, white and red cape walked towards his old captain and spoke.

"I thought you were a man of honor Aiden. I looked up to you when you were the captain of the royal guard. I often wondered why you suddenly resigned after we won the war against those filthy elves, and now I know why. You eloped with one of them!"Claude yelled in his face. "And on top of that...you fucking had children with the elf slut!" Claude punched Aiden's face and Aiden just spat out blood on the ground and looked at Claude.

"You broke the law Aiden, not me and you know the capital punishment for eloping with an elf is punishment by death. Tie him up against that tree right there so he can watch what he threw his life away burn in front of him."

Sakura needed to move and now. She had to go help her mother and brother who were trapped in the house. Just as she was about to make a dash for it a pair of rough hand grabbed her from behind and restrained her and dragged her towards where her father was.

"Sakura..."Aiden looked in horror. Sakura was clawing at the soldier's arms in attempts to get free.

"We caught her trying to sneak away" said the soldier restraining her.

"Let me go!" Sakura screamed. Claude walked over to her and lifted her face up by grabbing a fist full of her pink hair and forcing her to look up at him.

"She's a pretty one isn't she Claude?" One of the men commented in a lustful tone.

"Aye she is, she will grow up to be a beautiful woman..." Claude let out a cruel smile.

"Too bad her blood is tainted. She may not have the ears of an elf but she looks exactly like her mother. Toss her in the house so she can be with her disgusting elven family and block all exits.

"CLAU- ...ugh..." a sword pierced through Aiden's abdomen. His eyes wide open, he coughed out blood.

Claude pulled the sword out of his former captain and swung it to get the blood off, sliding his sword back into its sheath.

"You can watch your _mistake_ burn as you die." Claude said as he rallied his men and horses and left.

* * *

 _Hot...it's so hot...mama I'm scared.._

The flames were quickly eating everything in their path, engulfing everything in red and orange spiral of death. Sakura covered her nose and mouth with the sleeve of her shirt and began to walk through what was her home. Debris falling from the ceiling, photos turning to flames. Sakura caught a glimpse of the bouquet her and Cai just got their mother earlier that day withering in the heat. she made it to the kitchen and saw Cai in a pool of his own blood. She was weak at the knees and as she was moving towards him the horror of Claude's handiwork came to light. Cai's ears were cut off and stuffed in his mouth. Dried streaks of blood from where his eyes were. Sakura was shaking with fear and tears flowed. Then she noticed it. In his hand...his heart ripped out of his chest and stabbed through with one of the kitchen knives. She just sat there screaming out her brothers name over and over, hugging his cold body as if he will come back to life. Sakura didn't care anymore. She was going to die here, where she was born and raised all her life.

"Sa-Sakura...is that you..?" a weak voice called out.

"Mama!" Sakura rushed over to her mother who was covered with the wooden frames of the home that the fire has destroyed.

"Mama you need to stand up! we have to get out or else-."

"Sakura I can't move." Reika said while coughing.

The smoke was getting thicker and it was getting hard to breathe. Sakura started to try to move the wooden beam herself to no avail.

"Sakura.."

Sakura froze and slowly turned to her mother. Her legs have been cut off at the knee and suffered multiple stab wounds. She also had her ears cut off. Through all the pain she was suffering Reika held her hand up to her neck and slowly pulled out a silver chain and pendant and gave the chain a quick tug breaking the chain from her neck. She took the pendant and placed it into Sakura's bloodied hands.

"You need to leave me , my precious flower." Reika's breaths were getting shallower.

"No...mama..Please don't leave me.."Sakura cried while holding her mother's hand.

"I will always _love_ you Sakura" Reika used the remaining strength she had, to kiss Sakura's forehead.

 _"Al..Always remember who...you..are."_ The grip on Sakura's hand lessened and eventually let go.

Time froze. She was gone. She was all alone now. The fire and smoke didn't affect her anymore, it was actually cold. All she can hear is the chain of the necklace her mother had just given her. Sakura kneeled there, in front of her mother and brother's dead bodies. Her face stained with soot, smeared blood and dried tears. She didn't have anymore tears to shed, as if her body ran out of tears. Sakura looked at the locket and opened it. A picture of her mother and father smiling next to each other on one side and the other a picture of her and her big brother. Then she heard a loud crack. Sakura looked up and the ceiling collapsed on her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **A/N** : Soooo this is my first fanfiction, I hope you guys like it. Reviews will greatly be appreciated!

 **Quick Background Info:** Sakura is a child born from an elven mother and a human father. She and her brother Cai were born into a time where tensions between the two races was high. During this time, human and elven relations is strictly forbidden. Hence the reason why Sakura's family was always in hiding. Aiden, Sakura's father, was a human who was the captain of the royal guard. He resigned from his high ranking position to be with Reika, an elf who is Sakura's mother. After Claude, now captain of the royal guard found out why Aiden really quit after he did some investigating on his own and what he discovered is what compelled him to take actions into his own hands and killed Sakura's family.

Now I bring you Chapter 2 of Hana, enjoy!

* * *

 _"Always remember who you are Sakura..."_

Sakura opened her eyes and shot up from her bed gasping for air and sweating profusely. Her heart beating as if she ran a marathon, she quickly looked at her surroundings and once she realized where she was she took a deep breath and breathed out a deep sigh. The morning sun's rays were spilling through the cracks of the white curtains on her window. Sakura sat up on her bed, slumped over slightly and put her left hand on her head while gripping the blanket with her right hand and closed her eyes.

"Another dream..damn.."Sakura muttered to herself.

Sakura laid back down on her bed with the back of her hand resting across her eyes. She slightly turned her head to the left removing her hand and moved it towards her nightstand right next to her bed. Sakura felt around the wooden surface until she heard a chiming sound and grabbed the object. She held her mother's necklace in the air swinging the locket pendant in the sun. Slightly tarnished due to exposure to the elements. Sakura then opened the locket and gazed at portraits of her family.

"It's been twenty years huh? Time sure does fly" Sakura closed the locket and set it back down on the nightstand.

 _"Time may pass but I will never forget what they did to me. They say time heals all wounds? Heh. Bullshit."_ Sakura thought.

Sakura got up from her bed and walked over to her dresser and looked at her appearance in the mirror. Sakura grew out her hair, long enough to reach her lower back. Her body wasn't that of a child anymore but a woman now and fairer but that was the least of her worries. Sakura grimaced at her appearance and was disgusted on how much sweat was on her thanks to her dream.

 _"I need a bath, I look gross"._ Sakura thought.

Sakura walked over to the window and opened the curtain letting the suns rays into her room finally and opened the window letting fresh air inside. She then proceeded to walk to her dresser and opened up her drawer to pick out what to wear for today. A grey V neck short sleeve shirt and white capris pants and of course white undergarments to match. Once Sakura got the bath ready she slowly lowered herself into the semi hot water, sat sown in the tub, closing her eyes and relaxed until she heard a loud bang on the door.

"Sakura! I know you're in there!" a loud voice yelled from the other side of the door. Sakura frowned.

"No need to be so loud so early in the morning Tsunade."

"Loud?! I'll show you loud if you don't get your butt out of this bathroom and downstairs in the shop!"

"Okay, okay I'm getting out, just get the herbs ready for delivery for me downstairs, I'll be down in a few". Sakura said.

* * *

Sakura walked down the stairs only to be greeted by the person who took her in 10 years ago. A woman standing at the foot of the stairs standing tall and proud, with waist long straight blond hair tied in two loose ponytails, brown eyes, a violet rhombus on her forehead and lastly a large bust that bring her stares of envious women and angry wives dragging their husbands away. Tsunade is one of the greatest healers in the world that travels constantly to different parts of the world. But when she isn't traveling she stays with Sakura in their home together in the city of Konohagakure. Tsunade has taken Sakura in and taught her the ways of healing and proper use of herbs.

"Aren't you tired of waking up so early in the morning at your age? What are you now, 53? Sakura complained. Yes Tsunade is nearing her mid-fifties but she looks as if she's still in her 20s. _"Must be all the herbs and potions doing, that's what's making her look so young...but those huge brea-."_ Sakura's thought got cut off.

"Not all of us are blessed with looking young for hundreds of years." Tsunade said in a huff.

"More like a curse than a blessing" Sakura said in a annoyed tone. It's true though, ever since she turned 21 Sakura completely stopped aging. She's 27 almost 28. If she was fully human she would have started getting wrinkles by now.

Tsunade knew she just hit a chord with Sakura by mentioning her elven roots.

"Sakura, I'm sorry." Tsunade apologized looking at Sakura with worried eyes.

"Sorry for what? The fact I'm half elf? There's no need to apologize for that Tsunade." Sakura walked over to the shop's counter and picked up a package that contained herbal ointment for a patient.

"This is the medicine that needs to be delivered to Paige correct?"

"Yeah" Tsunade replied.

"Then I'm off, I'll be back in an hour or so, I'm going to stop by Ino's flower shop to pick up some flowers for some potions." Sakura said as she slipped on her black sandals and headed out the door.

Tsunade just crossed her arms and sighed. It's been 10 years since she found Sakura and took her under her wing, knowing the fact she had elven blood in her, Tsunade still took the risk.

 ** _Flashback_**

Tsunade was walking through a sketchy part of Otogakure city. She was in a rush so she had to take the quickest route until she heard a girl scream. Tsunade stopped in her tracks and listened to the direction where the scream came from. Tsunade closed her eyes to listen again. _"There the right ally"._ Tsunade ran to aid whoever was getting hurt and there she saw two men beating up a girl in her teen years.

"Stop! What the hell do you think you're doing to that girl?!" Tsunade was furious. One of the men turn towards her and smirked.

"This girl stole money from us, mind your own damn business old hag." he turned around an whispered to his buddy, "hey don't beat her too much, we can sell her to a trader. I never seen hair like hers before, I bet she can fetch us a good amount of gold I bet she's also a vir-."

Before the man could finish his sentence he was sent flying into the stone wall in front of him, cracking it. Spitting out blood, going into shock. The second man stumbled back falling down in the process against the wall. Tsunade cracked her knuckles and glared at the man. Once he got a good look at Tsunade's face and saw the purple rhombus on her forehead he knew who she was.

"Please! Don't hurt me. Here you can take the girl! Just please don't kill me! the man pleaded while backing out and ran away.

"Coward.."Tsunade muttered.

Tsunade rushed to the girl who looked like she was in critical condition and the doctor in Tsunade immediately took over. 3 broken ribs, left wrist is broken and by the looks of the bruising on her shoulder, it's dislocated. Tsunade was about to pick her up and take her to the nearest hospital. Then a hand gripped onto her arm and Tsunade looked down and even with the bruises on her face Tsunade couldn't help but see how beautiful this girl was especially her unusual hair color. Tsunade shook that thought off and scolded the girl.

"If you don't go to a hospital right now you might die of internal bleeding."

"No hospitals..I can take care of myself just fine. I never asked for your help back there." Sakura stated while glaring at her savior.

 _"Why is she acting as if I'm the villain here? geez this kid has no idea how bad in shape she is." Tsunade thought._

"Here look kid if you don't get medical help you'll-" before Tsunade finished her sentence the girl passed out on the ground.

"Pass out...this girl..so stubborn." Tsunade picked her up and carried her out of the ally.

* * *

Sakura woke up covered in bandages and an arm sling on her left arm, the smell of antiseptic that stung her nose filled the room. Sakura looked around and saw Tsunade working at a desk across the room. Sakura tried getting up but her sides were in so much pain and it only made her sit back down.

"I wouldn't get up if I were you, you were out for 2 days. You have 3 broken ribs, a ruptured lung and a broken arm." Tsunade explained while writing down some notes.

"Where am I?" Sakura demanded.

"You did say no hospitals, so I brought you to my room. This is the Inn I'm currently staying at right now. I'm treating my patients in this city." Tsunade now turning around in her chair facing Sakura.

"Why did you help me?" Sakura said in an angry tone.

"Is that anyway to thank the person who just saved your life?

"I didn't need saving.." Sakura said clearly annoyed now.

"Yeah tell that to your body missy" Tsunade moved the chair to the side of the bed now.

Sakura just turned her head and stared out the window quietly. The sun was starting to set. Sakura was clutching on to her locket around her neck.

"Everyone is the same. You always get betrayed in the end. You can't trust anyone." Sakura looked down at her hands.

"Looks like you haven't met anyone good in your life yet." Tsunade said with raising an eyebrow.

Sakura scoffed. "All the _**good**_ I came across eventually became corrupt" Sakura said harshly.

"And what of me? Do I seem like a person who will turn on you?" Tsunade asked curiously.

"Lets test that". Sakura narrowed her eyes and took Tsunade completely by surprise by jumping off the bed and ran to her desk and picked up an envelop opener, held it to her leg and stabbed her thigh dragging the small blade through her flesh. Sakura winced in pain and dropped the envelop opener on the floor. Blood was running down her leg and dripping on the floor.

"ARE YOU INSANE?!" Tsunade yelled and she quickly grabbed a gauze and bandages and rushed over to Sakura to stop the bleeding. Sakura stumbled back and leaned on the side of the desk for support holding her leg in pain. Tsunade began to wrap the bandages around Sakura's thigh and Sakura stopped her.

"What are you doing, I need to stop the blee...ding." Tsunade slowed down her words as she saw the cut on Sakura's thigh begin glow slightly green and started to heal.

 _"This healing ability at this speed. Only one Elf Clan can achieve this."_ Tsunade thought as she stood up and look at Sakura.

"You...see, I'm a monster. A wolf in sheep's clothing" Sakura said almost whispering.

"This would be the best time for you or me to leave. If they catch you with a tainted like me you will be arrested"

"I don't have the short pointy ears like the others do but the authorities will eventually find out." Sakura said as she started towards the door.

"Stop."

Sakura stopped halfway to the door and look at Tsunade.

"3 months" Tsunade said

"3 months for what?" Sakura questioned.

"3 months working under me for all the medical treatment I've provided for you the past 2-3 days" Tsunade grinned

"3 months?!

"Hey all the ointment I used on you is pricey, plus the herb used to make it is a pain to get and to be honest I can use the help, you will have food and place to stay, so how about it?" Tsunade smiled extending out her hand to Sakura.

"Err..." Sakura didn't understand this human at all. Why isn't she afraid like all the others? By now they would have called the guards to have her arrested and sent back to _**him**_. This woman didn't set off any red flags off in Sakura's head. For the first time in a long time she felt...she..

 _She felt Safe._

"We just met and you barely know me." Sakura stared at her

"Well you have to start somewhere right?" Tsunade said with a smile.

Sakura swallowed and hesitantly took Tsunade's hand and gave her a firm grip.

"Sakura...my name is Sakura." she said slowly.

Tsunade let out a small chuckle and gripped Sakura's hand even harder making Sakura flinch at her sudden strength.

"Pleased to meet you Sakura, I'm Tsunade, your teacher from now on."

"Ehhhh?" Sakura couldn't help but let the corner of her mouth curve slightly.

 _Maybe humans aren't all bad._

 _ **End of Flashback**_

"That girl is still as stubborn as ever." Tsunade chuckled and went back to work.

* * *

The streets of Konoha is always busy around this time of day. Shops were opening, people rushing to get to their day jobs. Horses and carriages fill the streets and children running to school. Sakura can smell the fresh bread from the bakeries and food from the stalls that are just opening on the side of the streets. A lot different compared to her _old_ life. Here Sakura can hear all different kind of sounds and was specifically listening to a certain sound, the sound of a wooden cane and a bell hitting the ground.

" Paige!" Sakura called out from across the street waving at her and crossing the street to get to her.

"Good morning Dear" Paige greeted in a surprised manner.

"I didn't even see you at all even with that beautiful pink hair of yours! You were so far away my dear, how did you manage to find me from across the street?"

 _"Actually I used my advance hearing and elf vision to find you"_ Sakura thought to herself.

"Your hat gave you away , everyone know that big blue ribbon on your hat is you" Sakura said smiling.

"Ahh, I see, yes I can see that, would you like a cup of tea in this cafe with me?" Paige offered.

"I'm sorry but I have to kindly decline your offer I'm running errands for Tsunade right now"

"Oh, yes dear off you go before her temper eats you alive" Paige said chuckling .

"Have a pleasant day " Sakura was about to turn around and quickly turned back " I almost forgot, this is for you , it's from Tsunade." Sakura handed the old lady a light package containing medicine from Tsunade.

"Thank you Sakura." Paige said and Sakura walked away in the direction of one of her only true friend in the world.

 _"Wonder what that pig is doing right now, probably sleeping still"_ with that thought Sakura made her way towards Ino's Flower Shop.

* * *

Sakura walked into the flower shop and not to her surprise the shop's lights were off meaning only one thing and one thing only. Sakura went upstairs to the apartment above the shop, letting herself into her friend's home(more like breaking and entering) and looked at a round breathing creature huddled in blankets on the bed. Taking one end of the blanket Sakura gave a quick pull and revealed Ino under the mess.

"What the Hell Sakura! I was sleeping if you couldn't tell" Ino grumpily said.

"Tsunade needs these specific flowers" giving Ino the list Tsunade compiled.

Ino quickly read the list and glared at Sakura.

"Give me 30 minutes to get rea-"

"5 minutes" Sakura quickly said

"15 minutes" Ino said

"5"

"15"

"5"

"15!"

"10 minutes" and was Sakura's final offer.

Jade clashed with turquoise eyes narrowing. A minute passed by and Ino gave up and sighed.

"Fiiiiiiiineeee" Ino said in defeat.

* * *

As she was waiting for Ino to finally get ready for the day, Sakura took a look around at the many flowers Ino had in her shop and spotted a flower that was dangerously familiar. Sakura went up for a closer inspection and there wasn't a doubt in her mind that it was the same flowers she gotten her mother on the day they...

"Looks like you found one of the flowers Tsunade needed for her medicine" Ino said as she came in putting on her work apron.

"That's a Spring Orchid, they only bloom for about 2-3 weeks in spring in remote areas, mainly out in the country in the middle of nowhere" Ino explained and shivered at the thought of living out in the middle of nowhere, which is pretty ironic since she owns a flower shop in a big city, a place where trees rarely grow unless your in the outer parts of the city. Ino picked up a few of the spring orchids and carefully placed them in a white box along with various other flowers. and gave the box to Sakura.

"Thanks Ino"

"No problem Sakura, hey we should go try out that new bakery that just opened! I heard they have the most delicious lemon cakes" Ino said eyes sparkling at the though of eating a slice of cake.

"Sure we can go later today when I'm done with errands, see ya Ino!" Sakura waved goodbye.

* * *

The streets were extremely crowded today. Sakura kept bumping into people while holding on to the thin box with both arms. _"Tsunade better buy me lunch for doing this."_  
In the middle of her thoughts Sakura didn't notice the children running her way, one of them literally knocking the box of _expensive_ flowers onto the busy street. Sakura saw a carriage barely missed the box which gave her a mini heart attack. " _Tsunade will have my head if these ingredients don't reach her"_. Just as Sakura was about to go pick up the box a black boot made contact before her hand did. _"You...can't be serious.._ _."._

"Get out of my way." said a masculine voice.

 _"Tsunade is going to kill me..."_

"Are you deaf? I said move, idiot." the man said again.

Sakura was sick and tired of all these rude city folk and hit her limit. Sakura curled up her arm and force upwards punching the man in front of her who did not even bother to apologize for stepping her flowers.

The man stumbled back a few steps from the force of the punch holding on to his cheek with a black gloved hand.

Jade met Onyx

"ARREST HER!" Sakura heard a guard command.

 _Oh Shit._

* * *

 **Ohh I wonder who finally made their appearance?**

 **Just to quickly elaborate, _Hana_ means flower in Japanese and takes place during the middles ages but slightly a bit more advanced since in this world they have magic and alchemy. **

**Thanks again for everyone who read and review _Hana :)_**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **A/N** : Thank you everyone for the reviews! Also, Uchiha Princess, Sarada surprised me with that punch to the ground destroying her enemies in Chapter 9 of Naruto Gaiden. You go girl! Now I bring you _Hana_ chapter 3. Enjoy!

.

The carriage rocked and swayed due to the uneven road along with a caravan of armed guards following behind the carriage. A tall black haired figure with onyx eyes in the carriage with an arm leaning against the window and his head resting on his gloved hand, who is clearly annoyed at his situation. They have been traveling for two days, a sound of frustration left him as he thought about his conversation earlier that day that made him travel away from his home.

 _ **Earlier that Day**_

"What do you mean I have to travel to Konoha? That city is filled with _humans_."

"Now Sasuke, your cousin, Obito who is an ambassador is getting married soon." Mikoto, Sasuke's mother said.

"Yes. To a human. You don't think that will be trouble for us mother? The war may have ended nearly 50 years ago but they are still our enemies. They took away the life of your oldest son, my brother, Itachi. How..how can you be so open to this idea? They killed Itachi." Sasuke clenched his fist and dug his fingers into the palm of his hand, nearly making them bleed.

"Son, I know you do not approve of this marriage but times are changing. The new king is accepting and kind and approves this union between a human and elf. It's time to move on, that's what your brother would want you to do and not dwell in hatred for the humans. Your father would go but he is currently in Suna meeting with the elders there. So you are the only one able to go. Please...go if not for Obito but for your brother. He and Obito were childhood friends and were very close and he would have wanted to go himself." Mikoto said with a tear in here eye. Sasuke hates seeing his mother cry especially after Itachi passed.

"Alright...I'll go, please don't cry mother, I miss him too, everyday." Sasuke said hugging his mother.

.

* * *

Sasuke shifted in his seat pulling his head back, leaning it back closing his eyes trying to relax. The bumpy road made it hard for his attempt at relaxing let alone sleep.

"Suigetsu, are we almost there?" Sasuke asked a white haired man who was sleeping on the other side of the seat. "Suigetsu." Sasuke said in a louder tone of voice.

The man stirred in his sleep and woke up right away when he heard Sasuke's voice get louder.

"hnng... Uh not sure boss let me check with Jugo." Suigetsu stuck his head out of the window of the carriage and yelled out at the muscular man operating the front of the carriage.

"Hey Jugo! Are we almost there yet? Someone is getting a little too cranky in here if you know what I mean."

"It should be another 10 or 15 minutes or so, I can see the city."

"Hn."

* * *

When they finally reached the city gates, Sasuke was greeted by his cousin, Obito Uchiha. A tall man with a pair of onyx eyes and like all Uchiha, had jet black hair. Sasuke, Jugo and Suigetsu along with the guards who accompanied them went to go greet Obito.

"Sasuke! Good to see you, it's been years since I've last seen you. You haven't aged a bit!" Obito joked.

"I'm 132 years old cousin, if you haven't forgotten, we are elves, the curse of time affects us a lot differently. You've been living among humans for so long you must have forgotten that." Sasuke calmly said.

"Ha! This kid! Can't take a joke! Don't forget I have 200 years on you cousin." Obito smiled.

"Now come, I want you to get you settled in and finally get to meet my beautiful fiance Rin." They all got into the carriage and entered the city. It was silent for most of the ride until Obito spoke.

"I know how much you dislike humans and that this trip was most likely forced upon you. But they aren't that bad Sasuke, you just need to open up to them and get to know them. After Itachi-"

"Is that why you are marrying one, you opened up to them? That makes you weak" Sasuke interrupted Obito, eyes narrowing at him.

"After Itachi died, I hated humans with a passion. I hated it even more when your father made me the very first elven ambassador for a city only humans reside in. When I got here I could feel the tension in the air the moment I stepped foot in this city. It felt as if I was in the war again but without the bloodshed. On my way to the palace some people overran some guards and attacked me." Obito's eyes softened "A woman grabbed my sword and instead of trying to kill me, she fended off some of the attackers."

"You let a human girl defend you?" Sasuke smirked.

"Pretty much" Obito laughed. " But that moment I learned that not all humans are bad and that you can't help who you fall in love with."

The carriage stopped in front of the palace gates and with a few nods from the guards they entered. Obito went off the carriage first in a hurry and walked fast towards a woman of average height with brown should length hair, dark brown eyes and what seemed to be a purple rectangular mark on each cheek, adorned in a long black and white dress. Once Sasuke and his group caught up to Obito he looked at the woman besides him.

"Sasuke, this is my fiance, Rin. She's the one who saved my life when I first came here"

Sasuke looked at Rin not knowing what to say so he hesitantly held out his hand to greet her and she held his hand with both of hers and gave a big smile.

"I'm glad to meet you Sasuke, I hope we will be able to get along despite our differences."

"Hn." Sasuke let go and proceeded to walk into the palace to the guest rooms. Suigetsu walked up to Rin.

"Don't worry lady Rin, Sasuke is just tired from the trip and is really cranky right now" Suigetsu gave her a grin and went in the direction where Sasuke went along with Jugo.

"Don't worry dear, just give him time. This is all new to him."Obito assured his fiance, caressing her cheek, giving her a kiss on her forehead.

* * *

Sasuke was resting on his bed, exhausted from the trip. Maybe now he can get some peace and quiet and he finally dozed off.

 ** _Sasuke's Dream_**

Sasuke was standing in the middle of a field of grass and flowers, the sun was high in the sky. He proceeded to walk through the field with the wind blowing gently against his skin. He looked at the flowers and the flowers were different shades of pink, he picked one up and smelled the sweet fragrance emitting from the flower then looked in front of him. He was suddenly at the edge of the meadow and in front of a dead forest. Sasuke didn't know but a force compelled him to walk into the darkness. Dead trees and vegetation littered the area around him. As he walked the flower he held grew brighter and brighter as he walked down further on the path until he heard someone crying. Sasuke walked closer to the sound and saw a woman sitting on the ground hugging herself with her back face at him. He cautiously took a step closer and the first thing he noticed was her hair, was it...pink? Sasuke moved even closer to the crying girl to get a better look to see who she is and then he heard a noise echo through the forest. He noticed the flower, his only source of light started to wither away and turned to dust in his hand. The noise was louder now.

 _ **Knock Knock Knock**_

Sasuke shifted in his bed, opened his eyes and looked at his door glaring at it. He got up from his bed and made his way to the door and opened it with force.

"Woah, looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning" Suigetsu greeted.

"What do you want?" Sasuke demanded

"The King has sent us an escort to show us around the city." Suigetsu said

"Fine. I'll be ready soon, you and Jugo wait at the gate." Sasuke then closed the door and leaned his back and head against the door.

 _"What was that dream about?"_ Sasuke just brushed it off and went to get ready and left his room.

* * *

Sasuke walk down the hall and in the corner of his eye he saw a shadow move away quickly. Sasuke quickly drew out his sword and it clashed with his opponent's weapon. Sasuke jumped back ready to fight off his assassin.

"You're not as bad as they say" A blond man complimented.

"Who sent you?" Sasuke asked ready to kill his attacker.

"The king sent me" The blond replied. He sheathed his sword and offered a proper greeting. Sasuke lowered his sword but still suspicious.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the king's son and I am here to personally give you a tour of Konoha City" Naruto said with a grin.

Sasuke sheathed his sword and calmed down.

"Are you an idiot? I could've killed you and started another war." Sasuke started walking to the gates.

"H-Hey wait up you bastard!" Naruto ran after Sasuke.

* * *

Sasuke was back in the carriage except he was now in the presence of his royal idiot highness that won't shut up about his favorite food.

 _"Is this guy really related to the king? He's such a dobe"_ Sasuke thought.

"Hey driver! Stop here, we can walk from here on" Naruto said to his driver.

"Your highness, are you sure? Let some guards accompany you and your guests for protection, the King-"

"Don't worry, I got enough protection with this guy around" Naruto grinned while patting Sasuke's shoulder in confidence.

"Suigetsu, Jugo, stay behind. Traveling in a large group will bring too much attention." Sasuke commanded much to Suigetsu's dismay.

"Alright boss, look after the prince" Suigetsu added.

"Hn." Sasuke smirked on his way out of the carriage.

Sasuke and Naruto were making their way through the crowded streets of the city. It doesn't help the fact that everyone knows who the prince is and he isn't hiding himself from the public view. Sasuke was walking behind him as Naruto greeted various people, from street vendors to store owners. Everyone that Naruto passed by gave him a warm genuine smile not a fake one in order to gain favor.

"I like going into the city and talking to citizens, they actually like me and know me unlike the people of the court. People here are happy and real, nothing like the court, people there always seem to have a stick up their ass and do whatever they can to gain my father's trust and favors. I want to be a good King in the future Sasuke, believe it." Naruto said with determination.

 _"He's got ambition"_ Sasuke thought.

"You'll be a great king Naruto" Sasuke said looking at him and Naruto had this surprised look on his face.

"You think so?" Naruto said

"Ah." Sasuke replied.

"Only if you stay in Konoha" Naruto said with a grin.

"Only if you can beat me in a fight I'll stay" Sasuke said with a smirk.

"Deal." Naruto answered with a laugh.

"Good morning Prince Naruto" A feminine voice greeted. Naruto turned around and immediately tensed up and became very nervous.

An elven woman with long dark blue hair with straight bangs, fair skin and white eyes with a tinge of lavender. A trait that Sasuke knows all too well.

"G-Good morning Miss Hinata! How are you?" Naruto said with a nervous laugh and a slight tint of red across his cheeks.

 _"The idiot is in love with her"_ Sasuke thought. Naruto turned around motioned for Sasuke to come over to where he and Miss Hinata were standing.

"Hinata, this is my friend Sasuke Uchiha" Naruto introduced.

"Hinata Hyuga." Sasuke greeted. " I already know who you are since our clans are acquainted with each other.

"Yes the Hyuga and Uchiha clans have known each other for centuries" Hinata said with a gentle smile. Naruto can feel the tension between the two elves.

"Well Miss Hinata, Sasuke and I have to go and tour the rest of the city" Naruto said breaking the tension.

"H-Here N-Naruto, here are some cookies I just baked, I thought you would like them" Hinata handed him a small basket of freshly baked cookies with a blush on her face.

"Thanks Hinata! I'll eat them the moment I get back home" Naruto said with a smile.

"Let's go Naruto" Sasuke said as he left his new friend behind.

* * *

Naruto continued to show Sasuke around the city despite the busy streets. There were so many humans around him and that kept his guard up, in case someone tried to attack him or Naruto. But Sasuke couldn't help but notice how people were completely ignoring him when they pass him on the street, without fear. Children running past him as if the war never happened. Was he truly stuck in the past? Sasuke sighed, all he wanted was to get out of this crowd of people. Naruto was right behind him carrying his prized sweets from Hinata. Then all of a sudden a couple of kids were running through the people playing a game and whizzed past Sasuke and nearly tripping him. Sasuke cursed under his breath and Naruto yelled at the kids scolding them to not run in a busy street, all Sasuke wanted to do is get back already. Then in front of him he saw the same person from his dream he had the other night. She seemed distraught over something and was kneeling in front of him and was in his way.

 _"Pink hair? It can't be."_ Sasuke thought.

"Get out of my way." Sasuke said in cold tone of voice. The girl just sat there staring at the ground not listening to him.

 _"Is she stupid or something?"_

"Are you deaf? I said move, idiot." Sasuke said one last time, he was losing his patience.

"Hey bastard, don't be mean to Sakura, she will mess you up man." Naruto warned behind him.

"I don't care who she is, she's in my way-" The next thing Sasuke knew was the pain he felt on his right cheek and fell backwards a couple of steps, holding on to his cheek in shock. All he saw next were the stunning green eyes clashing with his black eyes. Her long pastel pink hair flowing wildly in the air, her fist raised in the air. He just realized she just punched him. A guard nearby saw all the commotion and rushed to the scene.

"Arrest her!" the guard commanded the other guards. Two guards went to restrain Sakura and forced her hands and arms behind her put chain cuffs on her wrists.

"Let me go you bastards! Sakura yelled struggling.

"You are being arrested for attacking the guest of the Prince" a guard told her.

"What?! That elf bastard started it first by destroying my flowers!" Sakura explained.

Sasuke looked down to a now crushed white box with petals scattered around it.

"Hey now, look this was all a big mistake, just let Sakura go, she didn't mean any real harm here." Naruto told the guard.

"I'm sorry but not even you, Prince Naruto have the authority to pardon criminals, only the King may do that. For now she is heading to the dungeons." The head guard told Naruto, and Naruto sank his head in defeat. They loaded Sakura on a caravan that transports people to the dungeons. Naruto ran up to Sakura.

"I'm sorry Sakura, I'll tell father and make sure you get out right away!"

"It's fine Naruto, I let my temper get the better of me and socked your friend over there. Sakura looked at the man who she assaulted who was standing about 10 feet behind Naruto. He was a tall handsome man dressed in all black with ebony hair with onyx eyes that were now glaring at her. _"Heh I don't blame him for being mad at me"._

"Don't worry Sakura I'll let Tsunade know and I'm sorry about all this!" Naruto yelled her as the wagon started moving.

 _"That's the last thing I want, a personal death sentence by Tsunade"_ Sakura thought.

* * *

"SHE WHAT?!" The voice of a furious Tsunade filled the shop. Naruto was beyond scared now. Tsunade gave the death glare to Sasuke who was across the room.

"You, Uchiha, you are the reason why she's in that horrible place in the first place!" Tsunade yelled.

"I can see where she got her temper from" Sasuke said with an emotionless look on his face.

Tsunade marched up to him and punched the stone wall right next to his head creating a crater behind it, pieces of rocks now flying out of the wall and on to the ground. Sasuke still stood there unfazed. Naruto swore he was shitting bricks by now. When Tsunade gets angry she is a force to reckon with.

"Whether you like it or not Uchiha, you will get my Sakura out of that cell. I can't personally go there myself since there are sick people I need to attend to." Tsunade walked to her desk and pulled out a few documents and forcefully handed them to Sasuke. Naruto peeked too a quick peek at the papers and his eyes widened.

"How the hell did you get official release papers from my old man? Not even I can get that kind of legitimate document from him." Naruto said with a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"First off Naruto, you never had to bail anyone out, second my family and your family are very close. Now no more questions and get her the hell out of there" Tsunade explained. "Now go!" She ordered.

"Tch." Sasuke just stormed out the door.

* * *

 **There you have it, Sasuke's chapter. Next chapter should be up in a day or 2. Thanks again for reading _Hana_ everyone! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **A/N** : Thank you everyone for the reviews! Now I bring you _Hana_ chapter 4! Enjoy!~

.

Sasuke left Tsunade's medicinal shop, slamming the door, which caused many people to stare at him in confusion and suspicion. Why was it his responsibility to help out this human girl he doesn't even know? He was aggravated at the fact that it was his second day here and he was already entangled in the problems of humans. Sasuke just started glaring at everyone that was staring at him. A little girl ran behind her mother in fear.

"Mommy that man is scary" a littler girl said to her mother. The mother whispered to her daughter.

"It's alright sweetie, he won't hurt you, he's is probably just having a bad day." The girl's mother reassured her.

Sasuke heard the conversation from afar and walked towards the mother and her child and they froze in place when he approached them. He first glanced at the mother and then kneeled down to the girl and looked into her fearful light blue eyes.

"Your mother is right, I'm just having...a bad day" Sasuke whispered purposely scaring the girl. The little girl started crying and her mother grabbed her away from Sasuke.

"Get away from my daughter you monster!" The mother yelled.

"Hn." Sasuke stood back up. _"Humans."_

Naruto finally caught up to Sasuke and left the shop after talking to Tsunade.

"Hey Sasuke let's go!" Naruto called out. Sasuke took one last look at the mother and child and turned around and followed Naruto.

"Why was that girl crying?" Naruto asked.

"No idea." Sasuke answered with a smirk.

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto were making their way down the road to the building that leads to the underground dungeons, where criminals, from small time offenders like stealing to big time offenders such as murderers/corrupt officials. It was already late afternoon, so the streets were getting quieter now. Sasuke spotted a guard from the palace up ahead but dressed a bit differently, heading their way. Naruto flinched when he saw the silvered haired man, he was his father's personal guard and only meant one thing, his father found out about the incident earlier.

"Aw crap." Naruto gulped stiffening.

"Hm?" Sasuke looked at Naruto with a questioning look on his face. The silvered haired man approached them.

"Yo! Naruto, your father needs you back home and your mother is worried about you" the man said.

"Come on Kakashi, we need to get Sakura out of jail!" Naruto said trying to persuade Kakashi.

"No can do Naruto, your father wants to have a word with you _now._ " Kakashi said with a smile, he looked over at Sasuke.

"Your friend, Sasuke can surely handle himself" Sasuke looked at Kakashi in surprise.

 _"How does he know who I am?"_ Sasuke thought immediately.

"Oh, I'm the King's personal body guard, I know who everyone is, Sasuke of the Uchiha Clan." Kakashi smile as he grabbed Naruto's arm and started chanting something and a white circle appeared under him and Naruto.

"Man, Kakashi I hate it when you use Teleportation magic, I always get nauseous afterwards." Naruto complained holding on to Hinata's basket full of cookies tightly against his chest.

"Sorry Sasuke, looks like you need to get her out yourself, see you when you get back!" with that Naruto and Kakashi disappeared in thin air and Sasuke was alone.

* * *

.

Sakura was laying on her back on a wooden bed hanging off the wall. The cell was poorly lit, a mere candle hanging on the wall outside her cell, black iron bars to prevent her from escaping. The cell reeked of feces and stale urine from previous prisoners. Sakura remained calm and still since this was an environment she was already accustomed to years ago before she met Tsunade. She turned to her side and curled up into a ball as memories returned to her as she fell asleep.

 ** _Dream Flashback_**

A 12 year old Sakura is blindfolded, gagged and restrained, all she can hear are the voices of the men who kidnapped her from her foster home. Their voices quietly echoed and she heard water as the men walked."We _must be in the underground tunnels",_ she wanted to go back to her home with her foster parents, Cain and Susana. She started to cry softly. What was going to happen to her? Were they going to kill her? Rape her? Sakura was being carried on a large bulky man's shoulders to prevent her from escaping.

" Hey, are you sure she's the right girl? I don't want to be arrested again for kidnapping the wrong kid." A man grumbled.

"Do you know anyone else with hair as pink as hers? She's the right kid stupid, now hurry up, we don't wont to keep _him_ waiting." Said the man carrying her.

It was cold and damp in the tunnels, Sakura can feel it on her skin. Moments later she felt warmth return to her body again and she smelled food. Sakura can feel herself being put in a chair and all her restraints removed. Her vision was blurry at first after being blindfolded for so long but as her eyes adjusted she saw she was in a brightly lit dinning room with all kinds of food in front of her. She saw the two men who took her leave out the door quickly and the only other person left in the room with her, was an odd looking man sitting across from her. He had long black hair, with very pale skin and golden eyes with slits in them, like a snake and he gave off a dangerous aura around him. Both his arms were on the table, both hands intertwined with each other, his chin resting on them.

"You must be hungry child, go on eat, I know you haven't eaten all day" He said in a raspy voice.

"Where am I?! Where are my parents?! When they find out I'm gone you'll be in big trouble!" Sakura threatened.

"Now, my sweet flower, your foster parents are the ones who sold you to me" The man answered.

"S-sold me?.." Sakura sat there in shock.

"Yes my dear, after they found out your little secret they didn't hesitate to contact me" the man said.

"WHO ARE YOU?!" Sakura demanded.

"There's no need to yell child, I am Orochimaru, a simple doctor and scientist. he replied in a calm voice.

"And I know the fact that you are a tainted. A half-breed." Orochimaru said.

"What..how did they find out..?" Sakura whispered to herself.

"Your foster mother saw you accidentally cut yourself with a kitchen knife and saw your wound heal instantly."

Sakura was suddenly struck with a wave of betrayal and anger.

"I thought...they wanted me, I thought they loved me.. I lived with them for 4 years..." Sakura said to herself she started crying.

"Please don't cry child, may I ask you your name?" Orochimaru asked.

"M-my n-n-name is S-Sakura" she said in between sniffles.

"What a pretty name dear, ah you must be hungry, food always cheers everyone up"

Sakura looked at the table, on it were plates with roasted chicken, a whole pig, stew, a basket full of bread, fruits and cake, enough food to feed a party. Sakura was very hungry too and her mouth began to water at the sight of the feast.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can eat all of this sir." Sakura said.

"Don't worry about it Sakura, just eat what you can, you need to regain your strength." Orochimaru said with a small smile on his face.

Sakura ate in silence and she looked at Orochimaru who only had a glass of purple liquid. He was watching her eat. Sakura finished eating and drank some water.

"Are you going to sell me to another person now that you know what I am?" Sakura questioned.

"Oh course not my sweet flower" Orochimaru said.

Sakura was starting to get sleepy and her vision started to blur.

"I won't ever let you go child" Orochimaru said with a light chuckle.

Darkness overcame Sakura.

 _3 years later.._

Sakura was strapped to a metal table, medical equipment all around the room, jars of preserved organs stacked neatly behind glass shelves, books of notes sit neatly on top of a metal table next to her. A door opened and Orochimaru walked in dressed in all white with a white face mask on and took a seat next to Sakura with a scalpel in one hand.

"How are you today my flower?" Orochimaru politely asked.

"Go to Hell." Sakura cursed.

"Now, that is not proper language for a young lady such as yourself" Orochimaru scolded.

"Just get on with it already." Sakura said without emotion.

"Don't forget it is I, who took you in, fed you, gave you a roof over your head and in return you help me with my research. We talked about this already before Sakura. Humans need this medical knowledge for the future." Orochimaru explained.

"Whatever." Sakura stared at the ceiling holding back her tears and felt the blade slice through her arm.

"You never cease to amaze me on how quickly you heal my flower" Orochimaru said as he started to dig deeper into her arm and then reached for the bone saw.

Sakura was back in her room with a bandaged arm after the "research" Orochimaru conducted. Her room had stone walls without windows, a messy bed in the corner and a dresser with a mirror, she looked at herself in the mirror and touched her face and clawed at her cheek until her cheek bleed. Like always a faint green light glows around the wound and heals it right away.

"Why...why am I like this?!... WHY?!" Sakura yelled at herself in the mirror. She looked on her dresser and saw her locket, she picked it up and opened it and glared at the photos with hatred and threw it with all the strength she had across the room hitting the wall. Sakura broke down and slide down against the dresser to the floor and cried softly.

"Why...did I have to be...both?" Sakura whispered.

 _"I hate who I am."_

 _ **End of Dream Flashback**_

* * *

Sasuke entered the building and walked up to the guards that stood in front of the entrance door to the dungeons, they both eyed Sasuke with great suspicion.

"Hold! What business do you have here elf?" A guard said with disdain in his voice.

Sasuke handed the release papers to the guard cool manner. The guard took them and carefully looked over the document and his eyes slightly widen.

"I'm here to retrieve a woman named Sakura, she was arrested earlier this morning." Sasuke said.

The guard double checked the document and signature on the bottom.

"Well I'll be damned, official release papers from the king himself. Been a long time since I've seen one of these. She's the pretty one with the pink hair right?" the guard asked.

"And temper" added Sasuke.

"Alright" the guard unlocked the door and handed Sasuke the key to her cell and her belongings she had with her which was a silver necklace with a locket pendant and a paper list of items. "Last cell on the right, here's a lamp, there isn't much light in the hallway."

"Hn." Sasuke took the lamp and walked through the door.

* * *

Something about this place seemed vaguely familiar, Sasuke walked down the hallway in search for Sakura's cell. He can hear all the other people who were kept in the prison, yelling out derogatory names at him, Sasuke didn't care, he just wanted to get this Sakura person out so he can be done with all of this, then he heard something, it sounded like a person crying. He took a couple more steps, the sound was coming from Sakura's cell. He stood in front of her cell and held up the lamp to see better and there was Sakura, with her back faced to him, curled up in a ball on the bed. Sasuke unlocked the door and walked in slowly.

"Hey get up-" Sasuke stopped talking and saw that Sakura was crying in her sleep. Sasuke let out an agitated sigh, he didn't want to startle her so he gently touched on her shoulder and gave her a gentle nudge to wake her up.

"Sakura, wake up." Sasuke said quietly.

The sudden physical contact woke Sakura up right away and went into a defensive position. Once she saw Sasuke, she calmed down a bit and took a deep breath and stood up.

"Your..that guy I punched this morning...heh..sorry about that" Sakura apologized.

Annoyed, Sasuke quickly grabbed Sakura by the wrist and started to drag her out of her cell.

"H-Hey! slow down, what the hell!" Sakura yelled as Sasuke lead her out of the dungeons and out of the building and shoved her belongings back into her possession.

"Geez, what's your problem? You didn't have to drag me out like some kid". Sakura said as she was rubbing her wrist.

"You, you were crying." Sasuke said looking at her.

"I have no idea what you're talking about" Sakura said glaring at Sasuke now.

"I didn't have to get you out of there, I could've just left you there to rot in that cell" Sasuke said in a agitated tone

"Why did you help me get out? Hmm?"

 _"Yeah, why did I help her? She's the one who punched me, why am I doing this for a human?"_ Sasuke thought then he heard Sakura sigh.

"Okay look, it's been a rough day for the both of us, I'm sorry for what happened this morning, I let my temper get the better of me, something I apparently I've inherited from my mentor. Sakura looked at Sasuke's face and noticed the area where she hit him was slightly red and starting to swell. Sakura felt guilty and put her hand on Sasuke's cheek. Sasuke tensed up at the sudden contact of her soft hand on his cheek, but he didn't move away. Sasuke looked at Sakura and couldn't help but notice she didn't have any imperfections on her skin, a sharp nose, rosey lips, long eye lashes and stunning green eyes... Sasuke realized what he was doing.

"There, all done" Sakura said proudly."A friend of Naruto is a friend of mine. Speaking of which I never got your name..?"

Sasuke took a quick step back breaking contact between the two.

"Sasuke Uchiha, of the Uchiha Clan."

"I see, my name is-"

"Sakura." Sasuke finished her sentence.

"Well I guess you already knew that since you did bail me out, thanks again Sasuke." Sakura said with a genuine smile. "See you around, I have a feeling that I'm going to see you a lot more now that you're hanging around with Naruto" Sakura said as she turned around heading home. _"He's not bad looking for an elf...shit Tsunade!"_ Sakura started rushing home leaving Sasuke behind, Sasuke just smirked and headed back to his temporary home.

Back in his room Sasuke was laying on his bed relaxed, he brought his hand up to his cheek, much to his surprise his cheek was healed. " _How did it manage to heal so fast?"_ Sasuke closed his eyes, the last thing he thought about before drifting off to sleep, was a certain flower.

* * *

 **Tsunade got all the connections in the city, don't mess with her! haha**

 **I would like to thank everyone again for reading and reviewing _Hana._ This is my first fanfiction and it makes me feel happy and supported, thank you again! You guys are awesome! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **A/N** : Thank you everyone for the reviews and support! I really appreciate it :) Now I bring you _Hana_ chapter 5! Enjoy!~

.

* * *

It was late night, it was silent, the air was still, the moonlight spilling into the room through the window, onto the floor and illuminating the lower half of the canopy bed. Sasuke was resting in his bed, until he heard a sudden noise coming from across the room. Being the light sleeper he is, Sasuke immediately jumped into action, he went for his sword, which is always next to him and quickly unsheathed it and pointed it in the direction of the intruder. Onyx eyes searched for their prey and right away spotted the silhouette of the person.

"Show yourself." Sasuke growled out. The person slowly walked into the moonlight and revealed it to be a familiar face.

"Sakura? What are you doing here in the palace this late?" Sasuke said, returning his sword back in its sheath.

"Sorry, Sasuke, I just needed to talk to you." Sakura said walking closer to him.

Sasuke let out a tired sigh. "Couldn't it have waited until tomorrow? I had enough of your troubles for today" Sasuke sat back down on his bed and looked at Sakura with his eyes narrowed at her, glaring at her.

"Just tell me what you want and leave already, I'm tired" Sasuke said in a cold tone of voice.

Sakura walked over to him and boldly sat down next to him, invading his personal space, quickly making him uncomfortable at the lack of distance between them. Sasuke looked in Sakura's direction only to see that right away that the light blue shirt she was wearing was now transparent due to the light of the moon, illuminating her round breasts. Sasuke quickly averted his gaze away with a slight red tint to his face.

"Sasuke..." Sakura called out, Sasuke turned his head slightly back at her, jade eyes that have him completely mesmerized.

"I wanted to thank you again for getting me out earlier" Sakura calmly said, then leaned towards him and gave him a simple embrace, catching Sasuke completely off guard.

"If you didn't come get me, I don't know how longer I would have survived in that dark place." Sakura slowly tightened her embrace, her head was now against Sasuke's chest.

Sasuke didn't know what to do, all he could focus was how lovely she smelled, this was not good, he was starting to lose his self control and he knew it, Sakura looked up at him with a confused look.

"Sasuke, are you alright? You're quiet" Sakura said. Sasuke could only stare at her rosy lips, that looked so inviting.

Sasuke couldn't take it anymore, he pushed her on the bed, her long pink hair spilling on his pillow, he was now on top of her.

"I don't understand...what you are doing to me" Sasuke growled in frustration.

"Then...let me help you understand." Sakura said as she slowly closed the gap between them.

* * *

Sasuke woke up and quickly sat up, beads of sweat falling down his face, he looked at his window and saw that it was morning. He quickly looked down and saw that he was aroused and groaned as he laid back down on his bed, annoyed.

"What's wrong with me? She's a human..." Sasuke muttered. He's a warrior of the proud and noble Uchiha Clan.

"I can't be attracted to her." Sasuke said to himself.

Sasuke got up and got ready for the day. He had to go meet up with Naruto and brief him on what happened yesterday. He put on his black and grey attire which consisted of a simple but elegant, grey short sleeved shirt, black pants, black boots, finger less gloves and of course his sword, as Sasuke opened the door he nearly bumped into a red headed girl, startling her.

The girl backed up up right away and bowed her head.

"G-Good morning Sasuke! I mean I'm sorry! Err.." the red head was nervous. Sasuke noticed her ears were short and angular.

"My name is Karin, I'm Naruto's cousin, I hope we can get along!" Karin nervously said.

 _"A half-breed, no wonder the king is so accepting of Elves, there's one in the family."_ Sasuke thought.

"I can take you to Naruto if you want, he's in the main hall with the king and queen." She said with a blush on her face.

"Hn" and Karin lead him the way to his noisy friend.

Sasuke entered the hall with Karin, Naruto was sitting at a table with his parents, King Minato and Queen Kushina. Sasuke can see that Naruto got his looks from his father, who had blond hair and blue eyes, while he can see easily that Karin is from Queen Kushina's side of the family because the both shared the same fiery red hair.

"Hey Sasuke, Karin!" Naruto greeted. He waved them over to come join his family for breakfast.

"King Minato, Queen Kushina, good morning" Sasuke politely greeted.

"Come join us Sasuke, you too Karin" Minato said.

"Yes, uncle" Karin answered, both of them sat down to eat breakfast.

"Hey Sasuke, was Sakura alright? She wasn't hurt or anything right?" Naruto frantically asked.

"Did you forget that she was the one who hurt me?" Sasuke answered while he ripped a piece of bread and dipped it in soup.

"She hit you Sasuke?! She got she deserved then, that's what she gets for hitting someone." Karin intervened.

"Now, Karin it could have been a mistake" Minato said.

"Sasuke stepped on and destroyed a box of flowers that Sakura was carrying to old Tsunade and she socked the bastard in the face! Naruto said grinning.

"Hn." Sasuke just continued to eat.

"It must have hurt Sasuke" Karin said in a worried voice.

"I'm fine" Sasuke answered.

"I want to make it up to Sakura, she's my good friend, hey mom, do you think Sakura would like sweets? I can ask the royal baker to make the same cookies that Hinata made?" Naruto said asking his mother for advice.

"Hmm. How about something even better, like inviting her to the Royal Ball? I'm sure a young woman like her would love to get dressed up and eat all the food she wants, don't you think so Karin? You're around the same age" Kushina said.

"I guess so." Karin replied dully.

Kushina clapped her hands together in excitement "Then it's settled, Sakura will come to the Royal Ball, I haven't seen her in awhile so it should be exciting seeing her in a gown for the first time! I'll send a messenger for the invite."

"It's alright mom, I want to invite her personally myself" Naruto said with a smile.

"Alright Naruto, just make sure to tell her that she needs to wear the most beautiful gown she has" Kushina recommended as she started to cough a little.

"Don't get too excited dear, your health" Minato said in a worried tone while holding his wife's hand.

"I know dear, no need to worry about me, Tsunade's medicine has improved my health a lot ever since she relocated to Konoha" Kushina said with a reassuring smile to calm her husband down.

"Tsunade may be the best healer around, but she scares the hell out of me, she has the strength of 1,000 men." Naruto said in fear.

"Don't forget the high temper she has, the temper her pupil also got from her" Sasuke added, Minato and Kushina laughed.

* * *

"Achoo!" Both Tsunade and Sakura sneezed.

"Damn dust" Sakura muttered as she was rearranging small boxes of herbs on the shelves. "Tsunade! Open the window, there's so much dust in the shop! Sakura yelled from across the room while wiping her nose on her sleeve.

"Yeah I hear you" Tsunade replied as she opened up a few windows. It was morning and Sakura was about to get ready to make some herbal ointments and prepare herbs for medicinal tea.

 _"Yesterday was a disaster"_ Sakura thought as she got some herbs, put them into a mortar, she picked up a pestle and started to crush the herbs, grinding them into a paste.

 _"I can't believe I cried in front of Sasuke, eh... thinking about that elf makes me so angry! He's the reason why I'm making these ointments and why I got arrested!"_ Sakura thought out loud as she started to put more force into the pestle in anger.

"Put anymore force into that and it will break in two Sakura." Tsunade said at the doorway of the medicine room. Sakura just mumbled to herself and continued working. Tsunade watched her student work, studying her posture.

"10 years you've been with me Sakura" Tsunade said out of the blue. Sakura stopped working at looked at her mentor and guardian.

"Yeah, so? You're getting older" Sakura said nonchalantly. A vein popped on Tsunade's head and hit Sakura on the head.

"That's not what I meant you brat!" Tsunade scolded.

"Ow! What the heck!" Sakura said as she rubbed her head glaring at Tsunade, then shortly her eyes softened and turned around and continued her work.

"You took me in, and actually treated me as if I wasn't a tainted, you taught me the ways of healing and thanks to you I have a vast knowledge of herbs and flowers for medicinal use. You are the reason I was able to trust humans again, I'm forever grateful to you Tsunade. I guess...3 months was just too short of a time and I ended up staying longer" Sakura said smiling sofly.

"No matter where you are, or who you are, you will always be apart of my family Sakura. I'm proud of you" Tsunade said.

"Proud that I've inherited your temper? Sakura grinned.

"That too." Tsunade and Sakura both laughed. There was a knock at the door at the front of the shop.

"Eh? The shop isn't open for another 2 hours, I wonder who's at the door" Tsunade questioned.

"I'll get it, I'm done here anyways" Sakura got up and wiped her hands on her work apron and left the room to get the door. Tsunade checked Sakura's ointment and smiled taking pride in her pupil's work.

"It's perfect".

* * *

Sakura opened the door and a flash of yellow rushed in and hugged her.

"Sakura I'm sooooo sorry what happened yesterday! Naruto cried.

 _"Idiot"_ both Sasuke and Sakura thought. Sakura patted her friends back. "It's really alright Naruto, can you uhh...put me down now?" Sakura said with a nervoud laugh, she was lifted off the ground from Naruto's embrace.

"Oh, sure, sorry" Naruto apologized.

"Stop apologizing Naruto, you should be thanking your friend Sasuke here for bailing me out" Sakura said with a fake smile as she looked at Sasuke with angry eyes. Sasuke just looked right back at her and Naruto can feel the tension between them. Naruto held up an invitation card in Sakura's face, blocking her view of Sasuke and had a look of curiosity and took the card.

"What this?" Sakura questioned looking at the card.

"Just open it" Naruto said in excitement. Sakura opened it and it was and invite to the Royal Ball, it takes place tonight.

"A Ball, tonight Naruto?" Sakura said.

"Yeah! You can get dressed up and look pretty, not like you aren't pretty already Sakura and you get to eat all kinds of food you want!" Naruto explained in excitement.

Sakura had an unsure look on her face as she looked at the invite.

"I don't know Naruto, I have work here and I don't really have a gown to wear" Sakura explained

"I can help with that" Tsunade interrupted.

"See Sakura? Tsunade's got you covered!" Naruto said. Sakura was quiet, Sasuke took note of this.

"There's...going to be a lot of people there, I don't know Naruto." Sakura confessed.

"Mom and my old man want to see you" Naruto said trying to convince her to come.

"Come on Sakura, it will be fun, you should go" Tsunade said. Sakura couldn't possibly say no to a personal invite from the king and queen.

"Yeah, I guess I can go" Sakura said.

"Great!" Naruto beamed with excitement.

"Soo..are you taking Miss Hinata as your date Naruto?" Sakura said with a grin. Naruto froze up, his face as red as roses.

"L-Lets go Sasuke!" Naruto rushed out the door.

"Hn. Dobe" Sasuke followed.

Sakura turned around to Tsunade and sighed " So, what shall I wear?"

* * *

Naruto finally calmed down and sat down on the edge of a large circular fountain, Sasuke sat next to him after buying a cup of tea from a vendor.

"So you like Miss Hinata I see" Sasuke said calmly sipping on his tea.

"So what if I like her? She's really kind and pretty" Naruto mumbled.

"How you and Sakura so close? Sasuke suddenly asked.

"Ehh, are you jealous you bastard?" Naruto said with a sly grin, Sasuke nearly choked on his drink.

"I'm curious since, she's a civilian and you are the prince and you two seem very close" Sasuke said defensively.

"Yeah, I've known Sakura for almost 10 years now she's never treated me like a prince more like a little brother hehe, she's actually not from Konoha, she actually used to live out in the country." Naruto's excitement left his cerulean eyes only to be replaced by sadness.

"My Grandfather, when he was king, he was a paranoid tyrant." Sasuke's eyes narrowed and filled with hatred when Naruto mentioned Konoha's "Mad King".

"He made a law for all elves and children born between elves and humans to be killed, he believed relations between human and elf was an abomination, anyone caught breaking this law would be sentenced to death. He gave the children born of humans and elves a name, the tainted ones." Sasuke was silent.

"My father, King Minato, he became king when my grandfather died, he made sure to abolish the law and did everything that he could to fix relations between humans and elves, but it was already too late, the war has left a deep mindset on the people, that elves are nothing but monsters. Over time people became accepting of the elves and some elves even moved into Konoha , the Hyuga clan is an example of that and they get along well with everyone." Naruto stared into the ground.

"Some people who were still loyal to my grandfather and his beliefs still continued the practice of slaughtering the "tainted" in secret." Naruto's voice started shaking.

"Sakura's family...fell victim to them, she was only 7 years old at the time, she was the only survivor."

Sasuke looked at Naruto with shock in his eyes, the remaining contents of his drink spilled all over the ground as his cup hit the ground.

* * *

 **Sasuke knows Sakura's past now. What's gonna happen next? Stick around for the next chapter of _Hana :)_**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **A/N** : Thank you everyone for the kind reviews! Now I bring you _Hana_ chapter 6! Enjoy~

Just to clarify ages for the characters so far in _Hana_

 **Humans**

Naruto- 23 years old

Minato- 46 years old

Kushina- 43 years old

Tsunade- 55 years old

Orochimaru- 57 years old

Rin- 26 years old

Ino- 24 years old

 **Elves**

Sasuke- 132 years old

Obito- 335 years old

Mikoto- 548 years old

Fugaku- 561 years old

Hinata- 78 years old

Suigetsu- 59 years old

Jugo- 115 years old

 _ **Human/Elf(Tainted)**_

Sakura- 27 years old

Karin- 23 years old

 _ **Perverted Mage/Bodyguard**_

Kakashi- OVER **9,000** years old! just kidding, he's 34 years old :D Now I bring you _Hana_ chapter 6! Enjoy~

* * *

.

Sakura finished putting away the last box on the top shelf, she stepped down the ladder and wiped away at the sweat that was forming on her forehead. She was finally done with organizing the new shipment of herbs that came in that morning after Naruto and Sasuke's sudden arrival to invite her to the Royal Ball. Sakura looked outside, evening was closing in, she only had a couple of hours to get ready, Tsunade left in the morning to run an errand. Sakura pulled on the hair tie that was keeping her hair up in a ponytail, her long hair falling down freely. Sakura was about to head to the bathroom to take a bath until the door to the shop opened abruptly. Tsunade was panting, trying to catch her breath, she looked like she ran a few miles.

"Good...you're...still...here" Tsunade said between breaths. Confused to what is happening Sakura looked at contents her guardian was holding in her arms, it was a very large brown box.

"What were you doing all day Tsunade? I thought you said you were helping me with getting ready, not get more ingredients for medicine" Sakura let out a frustrated sigh.

"What do you think I was doing all day brat?" Tsunade shoved the box into Sakura's empty hands, Sakura lifted the top of the box, only to reveal a beautiful red satin off shoulder gown, with a sweetheart neckline. It was the most beautiful dress she has ever seen, Sakura took a deep breathe and finally spoke.

"Tsunade...it's beautiful.. I don't know what to say.." Sakura said in Awe, admiring the dress.

"Stop gawking and go get ready already, I've hired a horse carriage to take you to the palace, now hurry up! Takes hours for a girl to get ready." Tsunade told Sakura.

Sakura thanked her mentor and hurried upstairs to take a bath. Sakura walked through the hallway and into her room, placing the box on her dresser and proceeded into the bathroom. She quickly filled the bathtub with warm water, putting a few drops of rose oil in the water and undressed, Sakura dipped her fingers into the water to check for the temperature, before going into the tub herself. Sakura sat in the tub sitting up, thinking about how the humans will react to her presence there. Sakura lowered her back into the tub, with only half her face above the water from the nose up. _"There's nothing to be afraid about"_ Sakura thought, lowing herself completely under the water.

* * *

After her bath, Sakura walked into her room and closed the door, she walked to her desk and sat down in her chair and continued to dry her hair with a white towel. After she felt that her hair was mostly dry, Sakura walked over to her dresser, where she left the box, Sakura opened the brown box to reveal again the gown that Tsunade spent all day getting for her. Sakura lifted the dress out of the box, aligning in front of her body, looking at herself in the mirror, before finally putting it on. Sakura examined herself in the mirror, she usually isn't one for dressing up but even she couldn't deny the fact that the dress suited her. The dark red fabric, complimented her fair skin, the off shoulder design left her shoulders bare and the sweetheart neckline left her feeling more exposed than she would've liked but it still looked elegant. Tsunade knocked on the door and opened the door to see how Sakura was doing.

"My, you look beautiful Sakura, all the ladies at court will surely be jealous of you" Tsunade chuckled. Sakura looked at her mentor with a look of uncertainty.

"I don't know Tsunade...there's going to be a lot of people.." Sakura admitted with a hint of fear in her voice. Tsunade walked over to Sakura's chair and grabbed it, putting it in front of the dresser.

"Sit down" Tsunade ordered, Sakura listened to her teacher. Tsunade took the brush off the dresser and began to brush Sakura's hair, Sakura looked down at her hands on her lap.

"I know you're scared, humans can be pretty cruel creatures, you need to be strong and show them who's boss" Tsunade said as she brushed Sakura's long pink hair.

"Anyways, do you have a date for the ball?" Tsunade asked with a sly smirk on her face. Sakura looked at Tsunade and flashed her a fake smile.

"Who would want to go with a tainted like me?" Tsunade frowned and hit the back of her student's head, Sakura put both her hands on the spot that Tsunade hit and muttered a profanity.

"OW!" Sakura rubbed the back of her head.

"Tonight is supposed to be a fun night, not for you to sulk" Tsunade scolded.

"Yeah I know.." Sakura replied. Tsunade pulled out a small black velvet box from the pocket from her robe and handed it to Sakura.

"What is this?" Sakura questioned holding up the small box.

"Open it" Tsunade said softly. Sakura opened the box, and it revealed a new silver chain necklace.

"I bought you a new chain, since the one you have right now is too long to wear with this dress, and I also had your pendant polished, so I looks brand new" Tsunade explained, Sakura was shocked at how her mother's locket pendant looked just like how she was a child.

"Tsunade..thank you, it's perfect"

* * *

The ballroom was possibly the largest area in the palace. Large white columns all around the room, supported the red and golden ceiling. The ceiling was home to a magnificent crystal chandelier, overseeing the polished wooden floor with the Uzumaki's family emblem at the center of the room. Tall framed glass windows with golden curtains with a red trim decorated the walls of the ballroom, on the left side of the room, there are two glass doors that leads outside to the large balcony that oversees the palace gardens that contained a fountain at the center that provided water to the garden's flowers. Music filled the room as people from all around, began arriving for the Royal Ball. Servers busy with bringing food and drink from the kitchens to feed their hungry guests. Sasuke was standing quietly in the corner, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, observing the people that were arriving. Since this was a special occasion, Sasuke had to wear formal clothing to this event. He wore a dark blue high collar long sleeved dress shirt, black dress pants, a black leather belt and black boots. Even though Sasuke was away from everyone, he didn't fail on gaining the attention of the women in the ballroom, he could he them whisper to each other about him. Sasuke was about to leave until he heard Naruto call out to him.

"Hey, Sasuke! Over here!" Naruto called out. Naruto was standing with his parents as they were greeting important guests.

"King Minato, Queen Kushina, good evening" Sasuke greeted as he bowed his head.

"Well, aren't you and Naruto the most dashing young men here" Kushina teased.

"Mom...stop it, you're embarrassing me" Naruto complained.

"Isn't it a mother's job to dote on her son?"Kushina said with a smile.

"Yeah..but there are a lot of people here mom" Naruto mumbled. There were so many people around, Naruto almost didn't hear the small voice behind him and he turned around and red filled his cheeks.

"G-good evening Naruto, King Minato, Queen Kushina" the Hyuga princess greeted bowing her head in respect.

"Miss Hinata, you look v-very pretty tonight" Naruto nervously said. Hinata was wearing a traditional elven gown, a light purple long dress that had long sleeves with small white buttons on the side and her long hair was kept in a side braid.

"Y-you l-look very h-handsome Naruto" Hinata complimented back blushing, this only made Naruto blush even more. Kushina saw her son's interaction with the Hyuga elf and smiled, she pushed Naruto from behind gently to move closer to Hinata.

"Why don't you ask her to dance, Naruto?" Kushina whispered to her son.

"Yes son, you should ask Hinata to dance with you, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't mind" King Minato said with a wink. With that Naruto held out his hand out to Hinata, hoping she would accept it. **(A/N:** _the music in this scene is **"**_ ** _And the Walz goes on"_** _by Andre Rieu, composed by Anthony Hopkins. It's a very beautiful piece._ **)**

"Would you care to dance, Miss Hinata?" Naruto said looking into her eyes. Hinata softly smiled and took Naruto's hand and he lead them to the middle of the ballroom, King Minato signaled the musicians to start playing the waltz, the musicians readied their instruments and started playing. Naruto held on to Hinata's hand and his other hand on her back and the two began to dance in perfect sync with each other. Soon others joined the prince and his partner on the dance floor. Kushina leaned over to her husband and whispered in his ear.

"I like her, I think she and Naruto suit each other, don't you think so dear?" Kushina asked her husband.

"Ah, they do, what do you think Sasuke?" Minato suddenly asked Sasuke. The question caught him off guard but he still kept his composure.

"I believe Naruto is in love with Miss Hyuga, every time he sees her, he loses his composure" Sasuke answered the king truthfully.

"I see, looks like I might have to pay Hiashi a visit later" Minato said as he watched his son and Hinata.

Naruto and Hinata were dancing beautifully, something caught Hinata's eye and she looked over to her left.

"Beautiful.." Hinata whispered, Naruto looked at her.

"Yes you are Hinata" Naruto commented smiling at her, Hinata looked back at him.

"Huh?" Naruto answered, then he looked in the direction where Hinata was looking and finally caught on, cerulean eyes widen in surprise at the sight of his best friend. The music suddenly stopped and all eyes were on the entrance of the room.

* * *

Sakura's heels clacked on the floor as she walked into the now silent ballroom. She can feel the eyes digging into her back as she made her way towards Naruto and Hinata.

 _"Damn these shoes, I knew I shouldn't have worn heels"_ Sakura thought, Naruto took a step forward.

"Sakura, you look amazing, I could barely recognized you!" Naruto said, Sakura looked at Naruto's dance partner and remembered her from her previous visits to her home to drop off medicine.

"Good evening Hinata, I'm Sakura, your sister's herbalist" Sakura greeted.

"N-nice to meet you Sakura, I-I'm sorry if I didn't recognize you!" Hinata apologized.

"No, don't be sorry, I should be sorry for interrupting your dance" Sakura replied. Sakura turned around to go greet the king and queen and stopped for a moment and turned around again to speak to Hinata.

"Naruto may be clueless at times, but he's a good guy" Sakura said with a wink. After their quick conversation, Minato instructed the musicians to go back to playing the song and people are back to their business and enjoying the ball.

"King Minatao, Queen Kushina, thank you for inviting me to the ball" Sakura greeted with a bow. Kushina was happy to see Sakura again after so long and took her hands into hers warmingly.

"It's been so long since I've last seen you Sakura, you look as beautiful as always, especially your hair" Kushina complimented. Sakura gave the queen a warm smile.

"I'm not very experienced with dressing up or even getting my hair styled, so Tsunade helped me get ready for tonight."

Minato was busy watching his son not mess up on his dancing with lady Hinata, Kushina and Sakura were chatting away, catching up, Sakura couldn't help but feel like she's being watched. Sakura took a quick look around the room and couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Sasuke, why don't you dance with Sakura?" King Minato suggested. This only alarmed Sakura, not because of all the people but the fact that she doesn't know how to dance, create medicine that cures all sickness? Yes, dancing? No, she can feel herself panicking.

"I- uh, don't know how to dance, king Minato, I'll only make a fool of myself" Sakura said. What happened next surprised the king, queen and especially Sakura, Sasuke took her hand and dragged her out to the center of the ballroom.

"Hey-wait! I don't-"

"Just follow my lead" Sasuke said cooly, Sakura stared at the Uchiha and sighed.

"Fine, don't complain when I step on your foot" Sakura replied.

"Hn"

Sasuke lead Sakura to the center of the room, where people were already dancing the waltz, Sakura felt nervous and was afraid of looking stupid in front of everyone. Sasuke put his hand on her bare back and from him touching her, Sakura felt as if a wave of electricity flow through her body, Sakura took a step back but Sasuke prevented her by pressing her body against his, this only made her blush from the sudden contact.

"You're getting too far away from me, you need to stay close for this dance" Sasuke explained, Sakura looked away embarrassed, thoughts filled her mind.

 _"Why am I like this?! It's just Sasuke...the guy I punched and landed me in jail."_

 _"He's an elf"_

 _"He's arrogant and_ rude"

"Sakura"

"Why _does he have to be good looking?"_

"Sakura"

 _"Oh god, I can't dance, I can't dance to save my life, I'm going to trip and fall flat on my face"_

"Sakura." Sasuke said in an agitated tone, this snapped Sakura back to reality and she looked up into his mysterious onyx eyes.

"Look at me and take a step forward, just follow my steps" Sasuke said.

 _"Why is this woman is so annoying, why am I even bothering to dance with her?"_ Sasuke thought. He didn't know what compelled him to take her hand, he doesn't understand why this woman seems to always be around him, why he dreams of her, did he actually fancy her? Sasuke was leading Sakura and she was actually doing pretty well following his exact steps. He watched as her wavy hair danced in the air every time they made a step, how her dress fitted perfectly on her body, showing off her curves, how her jade eyes were looking down at their feet to make sure she won't step on his foot and back up at him. Sasuke saw Naruto with his parents and Hinata and Naruto gave him a thumbs up, Sasuke glared at him, making Naruto have a scared look on his face.

"Is it a habit of yours to glare at random people?" Sakura asked.

"Hn." Sasuke took a step back and spun Sakura around and pulled her close to him again. Sasuke also saw his cousin, Obito and his fiance dancing together, he can see on his cousin's face that he was very happy being with Rin, then he noticed some of the men were looking at Sakura with hungry eyes, this annoyed Sasuke greatly and he gave death glares to the men staring at Sakura, wait, was he being possessive of her? Sasuke quickly threw that thought aside.

Sakura was getting better at memorizing the dance and was starting to enjoy herself and let out a small smile, which Sasuke noticed, he liked her smile. The music fit the atmosphere around the two as they started to dance in harmony, Sasuke and Sakura were starting to gain an audience.

"You know, this isn't so bad, even though I'm a bad dancer" Sakura said laughing.

"It suits you" Sasuke said. Sakura looked at him with a questioning look.

"Your smile" Sasuke said looking at her, the song was ending.

"Sasuke.." Sakura didn't know what to say, no one has ever said that to her before, she took a step back.

"Thank you for dancing with me" Sakura said. "All that dancing made my feet hurt, I'm going to find a place to sit down for a little bit"

"Ah" Sasuke replied as he watched Sakura turn around and walk to the chairs and tables on the side of the room.

Sakura was looking for a place to sit down to rest her feet but at the same time her heart was beating fast. _"I guess he isn't such a bad guy after all"_ Sakura thought and smiled to herself, what she heard next made her stop walking.

 ** _"Look a tainted who thinks she can act like a normal human"_** said a whisper in the crowd.

 _ **"Disgusting half breed"**_ a woman said.

 _ **"I bet the prince took pity on her and invited her"**_ a man commented.

 _ **"Whore"**_

 _ **"All tainted are too unstable, they should all be locked up."**_ another man whispered

 _ **"The tainted shouldn't exist"**_

Sakura clenched her fist, digging her nails into her palm, anger filled her, but sadness soon replaced it and instead of sitting down, she decided to just leave the ball altogether. Sakura walked to the doors of the room and right before leaving she looked back and saw Naruto and Hinata talking to each other happily, Sakura felt happy for Naruto that he was able to find someone he cherishes. Sakura looked for Sasuke and she saw he was conversing with a red headed woman who looked related to the queen, immediately she felt a pain in her chest, she just wanted to go home, back in her comfort zone.

Sasuke was waiting for Sakura to come back until Karin showed up in front of him all giddy.

"Good evening Sasuke, do you want to dance with me?" Karin asked in a slightly desperate tone, Sasuke ignored her, he was busy scanning the room for a certain rosette.

 _"Where is she?"_ Sasuke thought.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" Karin asked. Karin grabbed at the sleeve of his shirt and tugged on it, Sasuke jerked his arm away.

"Don't touch me" Sasuke said glaring and went off to look for Sakura, leaving Karin behind.

"I'll dance with you Missy" Suigestu offered, Karin scoffed.

"Who would want to dance with YOU?" Suigetsu was taken back by her sudden attitude change.

"Hey, I'm just trying to be nice here" Suigetsu said

"Hmph!" and Karin walked away.

"Geez, what's her problem?" Suigestu sighed and walked off to the buffet table.

* * *

Sakura's heels clacked against the stone floor as she walked down the large empty hallway, lamps on the walls lite half of the hall, as the moonlight's rays beamed through the stain glass windows lite the other half, Sakura sighed.

 _"I knew I shouldn't have gone, good times never last long, when I get back, I'm going to bury myself in my bed"_ Sakura thought to herself, she was so deep in thought she didn't realize there was someone following her.

"My, how have you grown, my precious flower" an all too familiar voice called out from behind her, Sakura froze in place.

"No.." Sakura whispered, her day just went from good, to bad, to worse in just one night.

* * *

 **Hi everyone! Sorry for the wait on this chapter, I was really busy with work. Thank you again for reading and reviewing _Hana_** **. You guys are the best :)**

 **Stick around for the next chapter of _Hana_ ~**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **A/N** : Thank you everyone for supporting _Hana_! Now I bring you _Hana_ chapter 7! Enjoy~

.

Sakura couldn't believe it, she didn't want to believe it. He was back in her life, the man who caused her so much pain and misery for 5 straight years. All those years of experimentation, strapped to a metal table and confined to one room until she found a way to escape. She forced herself to turn around to the man who tortured her for years. Sakura looked at him straight in the eye, emotionless. He hasn't changed one bit nor has his obsession with gaining immortality.

"Orochimaru.." Sakura spat out his name as if there was venom in her mouth.

"Now is that how you greet me after nearly 10 years my flower?" Orochimaru replied.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura demanded keeping her guard up. Orochimaru took a slow step forward and had his hands intertwined with each other in front of him.

"I am the head alchemist here in the palace. I have been for the past few _months_ " Orochimaru explained. This only alarmed Sakura more.

 _"He works for the King?! What is that snake scheming now?"_ Sakura thought taking a step back. This only made Orochimaru step forward even closer to Sakura and held his hand up and brushed his icy cold fingers on her warm cheek. Sakura wanted to run but her legs refused to listen to her, as if she was glued in place, she tilted her head to the side to avoid his touch. Orochimaru saw the fear in Sakura's eyes and this made him chuckle, grabbing her face with his hand, making her look up at him.

"My, how my flower has blossomed into such a beautiful woman" Orochimaru slowly put pressure on Sakura's cheek with his right index finger. "I'm not your flower!" Sakura snapped back. She couldn't understand why her body refuses to listen to her, she wanted to punch the living daylights out of Orochimaru but she couldn't. She felt so powerless. "I've been searching for you for so long Sakura, it's been so lonely without you. I had to conduct my important research without you by my side, when Kabuto found out that you resided here in Konoha I was ecstatic." Orochimaru started to drag his finger across Sakura's cheek. Sakura winced in pain as she felt a warm liquid fall down her cheek. Orochimaru smirked at the sight of her blood falling down her cheek, just like in the old days where he would test her self healing abilities and researched the properties of her blood. His eyes brightened up at the familiar faint green glow surrounding the scratch on her cheek that he missed seeing so much. Sakura closed her eyes tightly, afraid, wanting everything to go away.

"What is going on Sakura?" a familiar voice echoed through her ears, she opened her eyes and looked who it was. Behind Orochimaru was her raven haired dance partner during the ball. Orochimaru turned around with his back facing Sakura, blocking Sasuke's view of Sakura to see who had intruded on his conversation with his flower.

"And who might you be?" Orochimaru questioned with a glare. Sasuke looked into the man's eyes. Sasuke can feel something was off about him, the aura he gave off was sinister. Ignoring his question Sasuke pushed Orochimaru away to the side, finally seeing Sakura. Sasuke's eyes scanned Sakura's face immediately spotting the scratch on her cheek and saw a small trail of blood. The look on her face was filled with fear and he quickly looked at Orochimaru's hand and saw smeared blood on on of his fingers and that made his blood boil. In an instant Orochimaru was held up against the wall, his feet hovering inches off the floor.

"What did you do to her?!" Sasuke yelled out his voiced filled with anger. Sasuke was holding Orochimaru up against the cold stone walls, gripping the collar of his shirt. Sakura could only watch what was happening and her eyes widened at the sight of Sasuke's eyes.

"Red eyes" Sakura whispered to herself. Orochimaru despite being pinned up against the wall and instead of being afraid of Sasuke, he was rather intrigued by his eyes.

"My, what interesting eyes you have there, you are an Elf of the Uchiha Clan I presume?" Orochimaru complimented. This only made Sasuke angrier as he held up his fist ready to strike him. Sasuke suddenly felt something cold pressing against his neck, the edge of a dagger.

"I wouldn't do anything rash if I were you, Sasuke Uchiha, don't forget you are a guest here" a man said behind him.

"Kakashi" Sasuke said finally dropping Orochimaru, the alchemist landed on his feet and fixed his shirt but not without stealing a glance at Sakura.

"Sasuke, how about you take Miss Sakura outside? I'll deal with him" Kakashi said looking at Orochimaru.

"Tch." Sasuke walked over to Sakura and took her hand and pulled on it, making her walk with him down the hall leading outside, far away from Orochimaru. When Kakashi finally heard them leave the hall, he looked at Orochimaru and narrowed his eyes.

"This is your first and last warning, or else I will have you arrested. For now I'll be watching you" Kakashi warned.

Orochimaru chuckled lightly "You and your mutts" Orochimaru said and with that Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of mist. Orochimaru waited a few moments until he was certain there was no one else.

"You can come out now Karin, I know you've been watching" Orochimaru said to the red head hiding behind the corner of the corridor. Karin slowly approached Orochimaru with caution.

"I need your help with a project of mine, do this and it will benefit the both of us" Orochimaru offered. Karin looked at him with suspicion.

"What do I get in return?" Karin asked. Orochimaru smirked.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

* * *

Sasuke slowed down his pace as they reached outside the palace walls. The cool night air surrounded them, the sound of running water nearby and lastly the sweet smell flowers invaded their noses, they were in the palace gardens. Sasuke spotted a stone bench near the central fountain that provided water to all the plants there. Sasuke started leading Sakura there so she can rest. A few steps away from the bench he felt a tug and he turned around to find Sakura looking down at the ground.

"I'm fine, there's no need to worry about me" Sakura said in a quiet voice. Sasuke refused to take no as an answer and with little force, he made her sit down on the bench and kneeled in front of her. It was a full moon and the moon illuminated the gardens. Sasuke moved his hand gently by Sakura's face and pushed away her hair that was covering the scratch. Sakura flinched when his hand made contact with her face then saw the confused look on his face.

"See? I'm fine" Sakura said. Sasuke got up and walked over to the fountain and pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and dipped the cloth into the cool water. He walked back into front of Sakura, kneeled down in front of her again and began to wipe off the dried blood off her cheek.

"I've never heard of an elf with the ability to heal so quickly, let alone a person who is half" Sasuke said breaking the silence between the two. Sakura had a look of surprise on her face then returned to her normal state.

"So you knew all this time?" Sakura said in a whisper. Sasuke finished cleaning off the blood and took a seat next to Sakura and let out a sigh.

"Naruto told me, he also told me what happened to your family" Sasuke answered.

"That guy can never keep his mouth shut" Sakura chuckled softly. She then leaned back and gazed at the moon. "It's beautiful, the moon", Sasuke looked up into the night sky. "Ah" he said in agreement.

"My mother loved the night sky, especially during a full moon. All of us, Mother, Father, brother and I, we would lay on the grass and gaze at the stars together." Sakura let out a soft laugh "My brother Cai would doze off and we would wake him up by sticking a piece of grass up his nose." Sakura smiled at the memory, then that smile quickly went away."They came in a group, my father was restrained and killed. They tossed me inside my burning house and blocked all the exits. Sakura's voice started shaking."I-I found my brother mutilated and the same with my mother. She was barely alive...s-she gave me her locket." Sakura held her hand up and held onto her mother's pendant, the only thing that Sakura has left of her family. Tears started forming in the corner of her eyes, blurring her vision. She turned her head to Sasuke and smiled. "She told me to never forget who I am." A tear fell down her cheek. Sasuke didn't know what to say, he looked at her with saddened eyes. Sakura quickly wiped the tear away with her hand.  
"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to make you depressed as well, I'll just go-" as Sakura was about to turn around Sasuke pulled her in an embrace, her head resting in between his shoulder and neck. "What are you-" Sakura was about to push him away until he spoke. " I lost my brother during the war...I know how it feels to lose your family." Sakura felt years of bottled up emotions start to come out, she held onto Sasuke and cried tears she kept in since she was a child.

* * *

It was late morning and Sakura was watching the shop, she was at the counter, getting medicine ready for delivery. Tsunade had to travel to a nearby city to tend to a patient of hers. Carefully checking and placing the medicine in small pouches, along with their instructions on when to take them and quantity. When she was done preparing everything she called out to the shop's newest worker.

"Shizune!" Sakura called out. A slender woman with black hair, black eyes and short pointed ears ran into the room.

"Yes Miss Sakura!" Shizune answered.

Sakura had an annoyed look on her face. "Shizune, I told you to just call me Sakura, we're the same age, anyways here, I need to you to go out and deliver these for me" Sakura said as she handed a large courier bag filled with the packaged medicine inside.

"Right, I deliver these right away Miss- I mean Sakura" Shizune, gave her a nervous smile and left the shop in a hurry.

Sakura began to tidy up the counter, throwing away small scraps of paper, bits and pieces of herbs here and there. Her mind wandered to the events that happened at the Royal Ball. It has been a month since the ball, she couldn't help but think about how Orochimaru is back. She wants to know what he is planning. Sakura was pulled away from her thoughts when she heard the bell at the shop's entrance ring as the door opened. Sakura warmly greeted the customer.

"Good Morning Sasuke" Sakura greeted smiling. Ever since the ball, Sasuke has been visiting their little shop every few days for the past month. At first he would come in to pick up medicine for the queen, then it would be herbal tea and lastly medicine for Naruto for stomach aches due to eating too many sweets **(a/n: Hinata bakes lots of cookies for Naruto)**. Now he just stops by to talk to her, keeping her company.

From their conversations, Sakura has learned that Sasuke is from a Noble Elf clan, a strong warrior that trains daily, a proud Uchiha and accidentally found out that his favorite food is anything that has tomatoes in them. Sasuke has learned that Sakura is an excellent herbalist, skilled when it comes to medical aid an example would be when he comes in covered in cuts or scratches from sparring with Naruto and that she's quite stubborn with a fiery personality.

"Morning" the Uchiha greeted back. Sakura noticed that he had a conflicted look on his face.

"What's with that look on your face Sasuke? Is something wrong?" Sakura questioned. Sasuke walked in front of the counter and stood there for a good minute staring at her.

"Umm Sasuke?" Sakura was getting worried now. Sasuke finally spoke.

"Do you want to come with me to my Uncle's wedding?" he finally asked. Sasuke has never asked a person to attend anything with him, let alone a woman, especially if that certain woman is Sakura. Sakura stared and him for a few moments and the room was suddenly filled with her laughter. Sasuke was embarrassed now.

"Never mind...that I asked" Sasuke mumbled. Sakura finally recovered from her laughter.

"Sure I'll go with you, I thought you were going to say something bad happened with that look on your face. When is the wedding?" Sakura asked, Sasuke now back to his usual demeanor. "A week from now."

"Crap I'm going to need to buy a dress" Sakura sulked.

"Don't worry about the dress, I'll have that taken cared of" Sasuke assured her.

"Are you sure? I'll pay you back" Sakura offered.

"No need" Sasuke said.

"But.." Sakura was intent on paying Sasuke back.

"Consider it a gift" Sasuke replied now getting annoyed.

"Can I just pay you-" Sasuke turned around and went to the door.

"Hey! Where are you going Uchiha? I'm not done talking to you!" Sakura yelled out.

"Just wear it when I come to get you" Sasuke said as he left. The door closed leaving Sakura by herself again in the shop and she let out a frustrated sigh.

"What a stubborn Elf" Sakura muttered to herself as she continued to clean up the shop.

* * *

 **Sorry for the long wait for this chapter to come out, I was really busy with work and school. Thank you for reading and reviewing _Hana_** **!**

 **Obito and Rin are finally getting married yay**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **A/N** : Thank you everyone for reading and supporting _Hana_! Now I bring you _Hana_ chapter 8! Wedding Day, Enjoy!~

.

"Hey Cai! Wait up you meanie!" Sakura panted as she tried to catch up to her older brother.

"Ha, you're just too slow!" Cai said as he sped off in the direction of their house. It was evening, the sun was starting to set and Sakura and Cai just finished playing outside in the fields. It was Fall and during this time of the year, the plants and trees lose their leaves and color and prepare to "sleep" during the winter and "wake up" during spring. Well that's how Sakura sees it anyways. Sakura can barely see Cai now as he is far ahead of her. They always race back home after they finished playing outside. It was starting to get cold and the wind was picking up, scattering the leaves on the ground in front of her.

"Stupid Cai, always leaving me behind" Sakura grumbled. Sakura heard a branch snap not too far away and heard dogs barking.

 _"Hunters!"_ Sakura thought and knew she had to quickly find a spot to hide or else the hunters will find find and question her where she is from and she doesn't want them to find out about her mother and brother. Sakura ran through the forest and found a tree with a hole in the trunk big enough for her to hide in, she quickly crawled inside the tight space and kept quiet, waiting for the hunters to pass. It was getting dark and she can still hear the hunters calling out to their dogs in a distance. Sakura focused her hearing in the direction of the hunters until she could hear them no more. Confident that they have finally moved on she let out a sigh of relief and crawled out of the tree. She patted the dirt off her pants and looked around at her surroundings. She doesn't remember ever being this deep in the forest before and doesn't recognize anything. The air was cold and the moon illuminated the sky. The sounds of crickets and branches of trees hitting against each other in the wind. Sakura looked in front of her and saw her hiding spot was a tall old cherry blossom tree. Strangely the tree's leaves were still green with petals still attached in full bloom and this puzzled Sakura since she knew cherry blossom trees bloom only in spring, not in fall. But that didn't matter, all that matter is her going home now.

"Mother must be worried, I've been out for so long" Sakura looked at the tree again, went up and gave it a pat as a thank you for providing a safe place for her, to her surprise the tree was hot to the touch, Sakura quickly pulled her hand back.

"What.." then she heard a crackling sound. Sakura quickly looked behind her. There was nobody, she was getting scared, she couldn't see anyone. There was another crackling sound and then a faint orange glow came from behind her. Sakura turned around and the cherry blossom tree was now on fire. The wind scattered the petals on fire the other trees and plants around, engulfing them in flames as well. Sakura was now surrounded with no way out. Sakura started to panic.

"HELP!"FIRE!" Sakura yelled out, but it was no use, what can a 7 year do? She started crying out for her mother.

"I'm sorry mommy, I'm so sorry!" Sakura cried out. A hiss and low growl can be heard from the burning tree.

" _ **ReMeBer WHo yOu aRe**_ " The trees flames surrounded Sakura and everything went black.

* * *

Sakura woke up breathing hard and covered in sweat. It was early morning, the sun's beams already invaded her room, the familiar sounds of the city outside her window. Sakura sat up on her bed and rubbed her hand across her forehead to wipe off the beads of sweat.

"Another Dream" Sakura whispered to herself catching her breath. Sakura got up from her bed and walked over to her dresser and looked in the mirror.

"Sakura, you look like shit, well time to take a bath" Sakura said to herself as she left her room to go to the bathroom. Once she filled the tub with hot water she peeled off her sweat filled clothes and carelessly tossed them on the ground. She sat down in the tub with her head leaning on the edge, enjoying the hot water on her skin. Sakura took a deep breath in and exhaled.

"Ahh...much better" Sakura relaxed as her thoughts soon returned back to her dream she had the previous night.

 _"A tree huh?"_ Sakura thought and then submerged her head underwater.

* * *

Sakura walked out the bathroom and back in her room with a towel wrapped around her and a towel on her head for her hair. She opened her drawer and pulled out a loose green short sleeve shirt and a pair of cream colored pants. She started to dry her long hair, once half dry she put on her clothes and headed downstairs with the towel on her shoulders so her hair doesn't get her shirt wet.

 _"All the medicine is made and prepared for packaging. Shizune doesn't come in for another hour and Tsunade is still out of town and won't be back until later."_ Sakura thought as she started separating the medicine and putting them in their pouches to deliver out later. She prepared them the night before so she didn't have to do it today since Obito and Rin's wedding was today. Sakura wanted to make sure nothing would get in the way for today. A knock was at the door at the shop's entrance. Sakura opened the door and was greeted by a tall Elf with spiky orange hair and red-orange eyes. He had a calm demeanor and was holding a package in his arms, he bowed his head as he introduced himself.

"I am Juugo, servant of the Uchiha clan, I have come to deliver this package to you from my master, Sasuke Uchiha" Juugo explained as he held out the elegantly wrapped box to Sakura.

Sakura accepted the package and smiled at Juugo "Thank you Juugo, umm.. did Sasuke say what time he would be arriving to pick me up for the wedding?"

"Around 12 noon, have a good day Miss Sakura" Juugo said as he turned around and took his leave. Sakura went back inside and closed the door and examined the box. It was black with a dark blue ribbon at the center.

"Pretty, now lets see what the great fashion expert Sasuke chose out for me." Sakura undid the ribbon and set it aside on the counter and lifted the lid of the box. Inside was a light rose pink dress. Sakura picked up the dress and held it up so she can see the design better. It was a Elegant long flowy evening dress with a V-neck with small crystals sewn in on the shoulders. Sakura was dumbfounded how stunning and elegant this dress was.

"Wow, I guess I got to hand it to Sasuke, he has a good taste" Sakura said as she held the dress against her, she almost failed to notice a pair of heels were also in the box as well. She picked them up and held the two next to each other.

"Pink dress and white heels, time to get ready" Sakura said as she gathered the box and its contents into her room.

* * *

"I love it!" squealed Shizune. Sakura checked herself over again in the mirror once more. Her hair, neatly brushed to the side, the dress fit her perfectly and complimented her figure. Shizune helped Sakura apply some makeup since Sakura didn't know how to.

"Are you sure this is alright Shizune? Not too flashy?" Sakura questioned, then there was a knock at the door.

"Your prince awaits" Shizune teased. This made Sakura blush slightly.

"Just get the door, I need to get my necklace" Sakura grumbled. Sakura walked over to her nightstand and picked up her pendant and glanced at it real quick and a familiar image flashed through her mind. She didn't notice it before, the design on the pendant was a tree carved into the metal, the same one in her dream the previous night.

"Sakura! Sasuke is here!" Shizune called out.

"I'll be right down!" Sakura answered back and she put on her necklace and headed downstairs.

* * *

Sasuke was waiting by the doorway with the carriage waiting behind him. Shizune was downstairs waiting for Sakura with him looking nervous.

"Uhhh..She should be done" Shizune told Sasuke with a nervous laugh. Creaking sounds coming from the staircase can be heard as a person walked down them.

"Sorry, I was getting my necklace" Sakura apologized, she looked at Sasuke who looked very handsome in his black Elven tunic and his usual black boots.

"Hn, let's go" Sasuke said opening the door for Sakura. Sakura turned to Shizune.

"Don't forget to deliver the packages" Sakura reminded Shizune.

"Don't worry about them, you just go have a good time Sakura" Shizune said smiling.

The driver of the carriage opened the door and Sasuke helped Sakura get inside first before going in himself. They sat across from each other. The ride to the Palace was quiet, Sakura was looking outside the small window, looking at the passing city. Sasuke stole a glance at Sakura and spoke.

"My parents will be attending the wedding, so don't be alarmed if a woman suddenly comes up to you and tries to talk to you, that would most likely be my mother." Sasuke said.

"Well it is a special occasion, your cousin is getting married, of course family will be there" Sakura replied still looking out the window.

Sakura shifted in her seat. "Does it bother you? Obito, an elf of the great Uchiha Clan, marrying a human?" Sakura asked now looking at Sasuke.

"It doesn't bother me anymore" Sasuke claimed. Sakura eyed him suspiciously.

"Hmm I wondered what changed your mind, your friendship with Naruto perhaps?" Sakura said in a teasing tone of voice.

"Hn"

* * *

The wedding ceremony was being held in the palace gardens. All the flowers were in full bloom, guests arriving through the front gates, live music and of course chairs and tables for the guests. There was a wedding arch in front of the garden's great oak tree.

"Sakura! Sasuke! Over here!" Called out a boisterous voice. Sakura saw Naruto calling them over from his table with Hinata sitting next to him. Sakura and Sasuke both walked over to greet him.

"Hey Naruto, Hinata, you guys are here together?" Sakura asked. The Prince and Hyuga Princess blushed. Sakura eyed her blond friend.

"Naruto is there something you're not telling me?" Sakura said with a grin on her face. Naruto cleared his throat and held Hinata's hand.

"W-We are actually engaged to be married, we are getting married next spring actually, Hinata's going to be my future Queen!" Naruto said excitedly. This took Sakura by surprise, Sasuke as well. They both didn't think they would end up together so quickly. But both knew that Naruto and Hinata has mutual feelings towards each other and was happy for them.

"Take good care of him Hinata" Sakura said with a wink, Hinata quickly nodded in reply and Sakura laughed. Sasuke motioned Sakura to follow him and they walked through a crowd of people until she heard Sasuke speak. "Mother, Father."

A raven haired woman turned around and saw her beloved son and another person behind him, her eyes widened a bit. _"Reika?"  
_  
"This is my mother and father, Mikoto and Fugaku. Mother, father this is Sakura" Sasuke introduced. Sakura bowed her head in respect.

"Hello, my name is Sakura" Sakura said with a smile. "I can see where Sasuke get his looks from."

Mikoto smiled back at Sakura. " It's nice to finally meet you, did you know that Sasuke spent a whole day to find a dress for you? In the end he asked me to help him find one." Mikoto chuckled. Sasuke coughed to hide his embarrassment.

 _ **Flashback**_

Sasuke was pacing back and forth down the halls of the palace. Mikoto and her husband had arrived the day prior to help prepare for the wedding looked at her son with a worried look.

"Sasuke, is there something that is bothering you?" Mikoto asked. Sasuke stopped and looked at his mother in a reluctant manner.

"Mother...can you help me with something?" Sasuke asked in a quiet tone.

"What do you need Sasuke?" Mikoto asked thinking something was wrong. Sasuke sighed.

"A dress.. I need help in finding a dress for a person attending the wedding with me" Sasuke said in defeat. Mikoto just smiled softly and took her son's hands into her own.

"Then let's go find the best dress in the city now shall we?" Mikoto said in confidence.

 _ **End of Flashback**_

"Why don't you sit with us Sakura?" Mikoto offered. Sakura agrees and sits down next to Mikoto as Sasuke takes his seat next to her. The ceremony was just about to start and everyone's eyes was on the Bride. Sasuke took this opportunity and leaned over to Sakura and whispered in her ear. "You look very beautiful today" Sakura knew she couldn't just talk to him back due to his mother being right next to her, so she had to fight the blush that crept on her face.

* * *

"You may kiss the bride" the priest declared. Obito lifted the white transparent veil that was covering his now wife's face and kissed her.

"To the Happy Couple!" Minato cheered. Everyone stood up and clapped, congratulating the newly wedded couple. It was time for the wedding reception. Sasuke was busy talking to his father about the clan and Mikoto was chatting away with Obito and Rin about their new union. Sakura took this moment to sneak away from the loud festivities and decided to tour the garden. Sakura walked along a path, shaded by a couple of smaller trees. The birds were chirping and singing their songs, the sweet smell of flowers filled her nose as she traveled deeper into the garden. Towards the end of the path, Sakura saw the familiar tree she has seen in her dream the previous night and walked to it as if in a trance. She placed her her on tree.

 _"Not hot"_ thought Sakura. When she removed her hand, she noticed something, the birds stopped chirping.

"Beautiful aren't they?" a mysterious voice commented. Sakura turned around who see who the person was. A tall man with long spiky black hair covering his right eye and fair skin. He looked similar to Sasuke. Sakura remained cautious.

"Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Madara, Madara Uchiha, Elder of the Uchiha Clan. I am here as witness to my grandson's wedding. I apologize if I startled you" Madara said.

Sakura took a breath and stepped away from the cherry blossom tree. "No need to apologize, I'm Sakura and yes they are quite beautiful, especially when in full bloom" Sakura said looking up at pink flowers hanging on the branches. Madara walks up to Sakura and stands next to her and he too takes in the beauty of the cherry blossom tree. The wind blows gently and causes some of the flowers and petals to fall off of the tree and onto the ground.

"Beautiful but short lived, just like a specific elven clan I know of that became extinct around 300 years ago" Madara said. Sakura just listened on, he was an elder after all, she didn't want to disrespect him by leaving without hearing his story.

"They even surpassed us Uchiha when it came to warriors since they had this ability to heal themselves instantly even mid battle and the only clan of elves able to do so. They were also the best when it came to medicine they were no other then the Haruno clan."

Sakura kept listening and stayed quiet. Madara kneeled down to the ground and picked up a fallen cherry blossom flower and cradled it in his hand.

"There was this unique trait passed down to the women of the Haruno clan, all the woman had _pink_ hair and were exceptionally beautiful, just like the cherry blossoms" Sakura was now listening very carefully to every word the Uchiha elder was saying but at the same time still skeptical.

"Unfortunately it didn't last long, people became greedy, wanting to harness this ability for themselves, many were taken and experimented on and sold until one day" Madara crushed the delicate flower in his hand "They just disappeared, some say the few remaining Harunos went into hiding" Madara opened his hand revealing the now crushed flower. "Reika..was considered the most beautiful Haruno, possible the most beautiful among the elven race at the time. You look just like her" Sakura froze at Madara mentioning her mother's name.

"H-How do you know my mother's name?" Sakura stuttered. Madara smirked.

"I've been around for a _long_ time child. Around 4 thousand years, not many know of the Haruno clan anymore, those who do know keep it to themselves" Madara explained.

"Why...why are you telling me all this?" Sakura demanded, still trying to process all what Madara has told her. Madara chuckled.

"Because the person who took you in refuses to" Sakura's heart dropped.

"You..mean to tell me..Tsunade knew all this time, who I was and never bothered to tell me?.." Asked, her voice cracking.

"Where else do you think she learned all her medical expertise from?" Madara answered.

"I-I'm sorry, I need to go now." Sakura excused herself and left the way she came, leaving Madara alone in front of the cherry blossom tree.

"Did I do the right thing Reika?" Madara whispered to himself.

* * *

Sakura fast walked back to the reception, passing various people in her way and bumped into Hinata, making her drop her drink on the ground. Sakura quickly picked up the metal cup and handed it back to Hinata.

"Are you alright Sakura? You look troubled" Hinata asked worriedly.

"My stomach hurts, I will feel better once I take some medicine at home" Sakura quickly lied.

"I see, do you want me to get Sasu-"

"No don't. I mean, it's not necessary, he's busy with his family right now, I can get home myself. Just enjoy yourself Hinata" Sakura said flashing a fake smile.

"Alright get home safely" Hinata said.

"Will do" Sakura left through the palace gates and got into her carriage and told the driver to rush back to her home. Sakura wanted answers and she wanted them now.

* * *

 **To answer some questions, yes as one of the best doctors around, Madara knows who Tsunade is. Madara is in love with Reika and kept and eye on her until he lost her whereabouts right before Sakura was born when they(her family) relocated to a different area.**

 **Sorry this update was a bit slow, I got my wisdom teeth pulled out a week ago and got an infection so I've been pretty much sleeping/drugged up on painkillers/antibiotics this whole time lol. So thank you for those who have been waiting patiently for the chapters to come out. Thank you for reading and reviewing _Hana._ Honestly I didn't think readers would like _Hana_ and it's awesome how you guys love and support my story, so again many thanks and I hope you guys look forward to the next chapter.~ _Aquarius Orchid_**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **A/N** : Thank you everyone for the kind reviews! Now I bring you _Hana_ chapter 9! Enjoy~

.

Sakura got off the carriage and hurried to the front door of the now closed shop and place her key into the lock turning it hearing a small click sound. Sakura stood there for a moment collecting herself and opened the door with force as if there was heavy weight behind it. She entered and slammed the door and locked it. Sakura used her advanced hearing to listen for anyone in the shop and to her dismay she heard nothing, meaning Tsunade wasn't back. Extremely frustrated, Sakura took off her heels and literally threw them at the shop's front counter, breaking the display glass in front. Sakura leaned her body against the door and slide slowly down until she sat on the floor.

"Dammit..why.." Sakura said in an angry tone, glaring at the ground. Moments passed and she started breaking out in hysterical laughter.

"This explains everything." Sakura gets up and walks over to the front counter where her shoes were laying in a nest of broken glass, Sakura waked over the glass, not caring that with each step the shards would dig deeper in her foot causing her to bleed more. She picked up her shoes and brushed off smaller bits of glass off and placed them neatly next to the door. With emotionless eyes Sakura looked down at her feet and quickly picked off the glass and watched in anger as her Haruno blood took affect and the light green glow began healing her feet.

"Tch." Sakura walked up the stairs and walked into her room. The window was closed and curtains shut. Sakura pulled her dress off and tossed it on her chair and put on her usual home clothes, the same clothes she was wearing earlier and she took off her necklace and tossed it on her nightstand. She then walked to her dresser and looked into the large dresser mirror and stared at herself feeling disgusted, Sakura walked out of her room and into the bathroom down the hallway, grabbed a small towel and wet it with water and started wiping her face vigorously to get the makeup that Shizune helped her put on, off. Sakura then proceeded to leave the bathroom and headed back downstairs ignoring the mess in the front she created and walked into the kitchen. Sakura knew what she wanted and she was going to get what she wants, she went over to the pantry and looked at the top shelf. She pushed aside jars and containers and felt around for a small latch that was hidden behind and opened it. It revealed to be Tsunade's secret stash of her best alcohol, Sakura grinned and grabbed a couple of bottle and closed the pantry door.

* * *

Mikoto and Fugaku were sitting next to each other at their table observing the festivities.

"I'm happy for Obito, he's finally able to gain the happiness he deserves" Mikoto told her husband. The patriarch of the Uchiha clan turned his head and looked at his nephew is who is currently dancing with his wife, eyes filled with love for Rin.

"Ah, the war has scarred us all, it took Obito a long time to move on from Itachi's death." Mikoto face saddened at the name of eldest son but a smile replaced it soon afterwards.

"Sasuke, never really liked humans, he also thought of them as weak. When Itachi passed away he was devastated and truly hated humans." Mikoto let out a small chuckle.

"He hated the idea of even coming to Konoha, he was quite stubborn about it. I'm surprised that he adapted well here and even made friends with Minato's son, Naruto."

"Hn. Of course he can adapt well, he's an Uchiha after all, he will be the clan's next leader" Fugaku commented. A voice behind them interrupted their conversation, they both turned around.

"Mother, Father, have you seen Sakura? I haven't seen her since the reception started." Sasuke asked his parents.

"Hmm.. I think I saw her last going into the gardens, she should be fine son, I'm sure she will show up soon." Mikoto said. This still didn't make Sasuke comfortable.

"I'm going to look for her" Sasuke stubbornly said back to his mother, before he left he bowed his head in respect to his parents and headed to on of the paths of the gardens looking for his missing companion. As Sasuke disappeared into the crowd his mother giggled and looked at her husband.

"Sakura could be the other reason for Sasuke's hatred of humans to falter" Fugaku's couldn't help but smile at his wife's happiness for their youngest son.

* * *

There were so many people in the gardens it was starting to annoy Sasuke. He was already out of his comfort zone just being at the wedding and not being able to locate Sakura was making him even more frustrated.

 _"Where is she?"_ Sasuke thought to himself. He looked through the mass of people and not a single one of them had pink hair. Sasuke was about to go on the path that goes deeper into the gardens when the Uchiha elder, Madara came out from the path. Onyx eyes clashed with each other for a brief moment and both nodded their heads in respect before going their separate ways. Before he was about to walk on the path a frantic but quiet voice stopped him.

"Hinata?" Sasuke called out to the out of breath Hyuga elf.

"I-I'm s-sorry, I was looking for you" Hinata said catching her breath. Sasuke looked at her with a confused look.

"What for?" Sasuke asked. The Hyuga princess gathered herself and spoke.

"Sakura, she left in a rush. She said her stomach hurt and went home" Hinata explained. Something about this didn't sit right with Sasuke, he had a feeling she didn't leave due to a stomachache. Sasuke thought about it for a moment and his eyes widened and his eyes glowed crimson, immediately scanning the main garden for Madara.

 _"He was in the same area Sakura was before she left!"_ Sasuke thought. Hinata was getting nervous due to Sasuke's sudden change in demeanor.

"S-Sasuke?" Sasuke's eyes returned to normal.

"You said she was home, correct?" Sasuke's voice was now somewhat calm.

"Y-yes, she should be home" Hinata answered and without a word Sasuke left.

* * *

Sasuke stood in front of the Herbal shop and from the outside looks closed, curtains closed. Something inside him just wanted to make sure Sakura was safe, he reached out and grabbed the knob of the door and twisted it, only to find it locked.

 _"Is she inside? Did she ever make it back home? Is she hurt?"_ countless thoughts filled Sasuke's head. He had to make sure, he began knocking on the door and waited, minutes passed and he knocked louder, in a more impatient manner, almost banging on the door. Sasuke heard something that sounded an object was knocked over.

"Sakura!" Sasuke called out, he was about to kick the door in until a small click sound coming from the lock and the door cracked open a bit.

"We're closed...stop making so much goddamn noise.." Sakura poked her head out the door in an unfashionable manner, leaning on the doorway.

"Oh, it's...you" Sakura said, words slurring.

Sasuke can smell the alcohol in her breath and narrowed his eyes, glaring at her.

"Are you drunk?" Sasuke asked. Sakura looked at him and got annoyed.

"Tch... Not drunk enough, look I'm not in the mood-" Sasuke ignored her and pulled her inside the shop and closed the door behind him. What he saw was a mess, empty wine bottles here and there, broken glass on the floor and smeared blood on the wooden floor.

"What happened here?! Sasuke demanded, Sakura ignores him and walks into the kitchen, of course Sasuke follows demanding an answer. Sakura grabs another bottle off the kitchen table and opens it.

"Oh..that? I tripped." Sakura took a gulp from the bottle, Sasuke goes up to her and snatches the bottle away and places it back on the table behind her. He is now inches away from her face.

"Don't lie to me" Sasuke growled. Emerald clashed with Onyx, not one backing down from each other.

"I got mad, happy?" Sakura answered.

"Why did you leave?" Sasuke asked in an angry tone. Sakura glared at him.

"None of your business _Uchiha_ "

"It _**is**_ my business" Sasuke replied.

Sakura scoffs "Fuck off Sasuke." Sakura pushed Sasuke away in an aggressive way and grabbed the bottle again, ready to take another sip.

"Hn. You are being ridiculously immature" Sasuke commented. This was the straw that broke the camel's back.

" Immature?You want to see immature? I'll show you immature!" Sakura held the wine bottle by the neck and with all her strength threw the bottle at Sasuke. He dodged it with a simple movement of his head and the bottle collided on the wall behind him, shattering the bottle and red wine spattered on the wall, now leaking down on to the floor. Sasuke remained silent and stared at her. Sakura got angrier and went up to him and swung her arm, punching Sasuke in the cheek. Sasuke remained still, unfazed, this just pissed her off even more, she took a step back.

"Why?... Why do you want to know what's always going on with me huh? What's your problem?! What are you my guardian or something? Ohh wait I forgot I did have a guardian, you know the loud blond haired old lady I work with?! Tsunade?!"

Sasuke stepped forward reaching out for her "Sakura.." Sakura took a step backwards.

"Oh noo, you want to know what going on right?! YOU want to know my business, here let me tell you. That BITCH knew...she fucking knew this whole damn time, she betrayed me just like the rest of them.." Sakura went to sit in a chair, leaned back her head and closed her eyes and stayed like that for a few minutes.

"She knew I was a Haruno this whole time. She lied to me." Sakura looked over at Sasuke who was still standing and offered him a seat at the table next to her. Sasuke sat down on the wooden chair. Sakura let out a sigh. She put her hand on Sasuke's cheek in the same manner she did when Sasuke bailed her out of jail, she healed his bruised cheek, this time he didn't flinch. Sakura pulled her hand back.

"You won't understand" Sakura said, opening another bottle. " Just...leave, I'm sure your family is wondering where you are." Sasuke still remained seated.

"They can wait." Sasuke said.

"At least you have a family to go back to" Sakura blurted out looking down at into the table and it became silent, only the ticking of the wall clock can be heard. Then Sasuke's chair can be heard being pushed back and him standing up and walking away. Sakura burried her head into her arms on the table and didn't bother looking up. The next thing she heard was one of the cabinets being open and closed and Sasuke sitting back down on the chair. She heard a light thud on the table and looked up, surprised. Sasuke managed to find two wine glasses and started pouring wine in both of them, he elegantly picked up one glass and offered it to her.

"It's true I don't understand, but let me try" Sasuke said. Sakura accepted his gesture and looked at the glass, she moved the wine around and inhaled the sweet smell of the wine and brough the glass up to her lips and took a sip and placed the glass back down on the table.

"Tastes better this way" Sakura said, this made Sasuke chuckle lightly.

"Of course, unlike you I do not drink it straight from the bottle in huge gulps. You can't really enjoy it that way." Sasuke took a sip himself.

"Well I wasn't exactly drinking it to enjoy it" Sakura replied in an annoyed tone. She took another sip and put the glass down and stared at it and let out a long sigh.

"What am I doing? I don't even know anymore." Sasuke refilled their glasses. and set the bottle back on the table. Sakura looked down at her hands closed them and opened them again.

"If only...I wasn't like..this, things would have been better" Sakura whispered. Sasuke took another sip and raised his eyebrow at her.

"How so?" Sasuke asked. Sakura finished her glass.

"If only I was one or the other." A tear fell down her cheek and hit the table and she looked at Sasuke. "My family would still be alive." Sakura started to lose her balance and leaned to the side, nearly falling off the chair. Sasuke rushed to catch her before she hit the floor and helped Sakura stand up by putting one arm around her waist and her other arm hanging off his shoulders.

" I'm sorry the alcohol..is finally getting to me." Sakura apologized.

"Where is your room?" Sasuke asked.

"Upstairs, second door to the right" Sakura answered in a tired voice. Sasuke started walking both of them out the kitchen but with the first few steps he noticed his coordination was off. He only had 2 glasses of wine. He wasn't much of a drinker, due to the fact his tolerance for alcohol is pretty low. Still his managed to get the both of them upstairs and into her room without tripping. Sasuke examined her room and noticed it was quite plain. There was literally almost no decor, just a bed, nightstand, dresser with a large mirror on top and a wooden chair. He helped her onto her bed and placed the covers over her. It was already late and the sun was setting, making the room glow red and orange. Sakura was laying on her side facing him, she was still awake, breathing slowly. Sasuke was about to leave when he felt a hand around his wrist, stopping him.

"Don't go, not yet, I don't want to be alone" Sakura whispered. Sasuke sat on the edge of her bed.

"I'll stay until you fall asleep" Sasuke said.

"I'm sorry.." Sakura apologized. Sasuke looked down at her, seeing her bright green eyes looking at him.

"I'm not good with with people. Elves, humans, I have problems with trusting others. I'm sorry the way I treated you before.."Sakura said.

"You and I both" Sasuke paused " When Itachi died I despised humans, I hated it even more the fact I had to come here to Konoha. You and Naruto changed my view of humans". Sakura can feel herself slipping away and the world around her started getting blurry and she closed her eyes.

"I..still can't accept myself." Sakura mumbled before falling asleep at last.

Sasuke got up slowly from the bed and a glimmer caught his eye, it was Sakura's necklace she wears everyday. He picked up the necklace and looked at the pendant hanging from it. He carefully opened the pendant and inside was a worn out photo of a man , elven woman with pink hair, a young boy and a young girl with pink hair, this was Sakura's family, Sakura looked just like her mother. Sasuke closed the locket and placed it back on her nightstand and heard Sakura move in her sleep, causing some strands of hair to fall on her face. Sasuke gently brushed her hair to the side of her face.

"But I accept you for who you are"

* * *

The warmth of the morning sun hit Sakura's face, Sakura groaned as she moved her hand in front of her face to block the sun's rays. She sat up in her bed massaging her forehead.

"Ugh..my head" Sakura grumbled.

"You did drink enough for a small army" a masculine voice answered her. Sakura opened her eyes right away and was now wide awake and saw on the side of her bed was Sasuke, sitting on the floor with his head leaned back against the edge of her bed.

"W-W-WHAT THE HELL?!" Sakura yelled out.

"Hn. Are you always this loud in the morning?" Sasuke asked.

"Why are you here Sasuke?" Sakura frantically asked. Sasuke got up and stretched his neck before turning to her with a smirk on his face.

"Do the words, Don't go, ring any bells for you?" Sasuke replied. Sakura just sat there and though for a few seconds and then memories from yesterday started flooding her head.

 _"Don't go, not yet, I don't want to be alone"_ flashed in Sakura's head and all her blood rushed to her face.

"W-wait you said you would leave after I fell asleep! You stayed and watched me sleep didn't you? You pervert!" Sakura accused.

"I'm not good with alcohol, I waited to sober up and fell asleep in the process" Sasuke lied. Sakura looked at him with a serious face.

"So..nothing happened? Sakura questioned.

"Nothing happened" Sasuke answered in a calm tone. _"But if you were mine it would be a different story"_ Sasuke thought.

"I need to head back to the palace now" Sasuke said to Sakura and exited the door to her room. Sakura heard him go down the stairs and leave through the front entrance and the moment the door closed she let out a deep breath and the first thought that came in mind.

 _"I need to clean up"_ Sakura groaned and fell back into her bed.

* * *

Sakura was sweeping up the shattered glass on the floor by the counter. She just finished gathering the empty bottles of wine, placing them in a small wooden crate and leaving them out in front of the shop. She was no longer feeling angry, just really hung over. The bell jingled as the front door opened and the loud voice Sakura has gotten used to over the years filled the shop.

"What the hell happened here?!" Tsunade demanded. Sakura continued to sweep the mess and pretended not to hear her.

"And what is with all the empty bottles of wine in the front? Wait..did you drink all my good wine?! Sakura answer me!" Tsunade yelled in an angry tone. Sakura stopped sweeping and looked at her mentor who took care of her for the past decade with a sad expression on her face.

"Why didn't you tell me I was a Haruno?"

* * *

 **Alcohol brings the good and bad out of all of us, that's why I personally don't drink lol  
**

 **Thank you for reading and supporting _Hana_! I hope you look forward to the next chapter~  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **A/N** : Thank you everyone for the kind reviews! Now I bring you _Hana_ chapter 10! Enjoy~

.

A loud thud can be heard as Tsunade's belongings from her travels hit the floor of the shop, her anger instantly gone and replaced by fear and guilt. A lump formed in the back of her throat and her heart raced as she tried to find the right words to say to her student of 10 years. Honestly Tsunade never thought Sakura would ever find out, and wanted it to keep it that way to protect her from knowing the burden of being a Haruno. The pain in her chest got worse as she saw the sad expression on Sakura's face, Tsunade knew what she had done was wrong. Tsunade promptly closed the door to the shop.

Sakura set the broom against the wall and crossed her arms while leaning against the wall. "Well? How long did you know I was a Haruno?"

Tsunade gulped and let out a deep sigh. "When you cut your leg in my hotel room 10 years ago, I knew right away you were a part of the Haruno clan." Tsunade confessed.

"And you never told me that important detail? I've told you everything that has happened to me.." Sakura voice started to crack "Even my time with... Orochimaru..everything in my life up until now, I never lied to you, what else are you hiding from me?"

"Who told you this Sakura?" Tsunade asked slowly regaining her composure.

"Madara, an elder of the Uchiha clan. He knows my mother Reika"

Upon hearing his name Tsunade brought her hand up to her forehead and massaged her temples." Of course he would tell you, he's been around the Haruno clan and seeing how you resemble a Haruno, he would tell you" Tsunade picked up her bags and proceeded to go in the kitchen and sat down in one of the chairs at dining table. "Come,sit down, I'll tell you everything I know."

Sakura slowly walked over to where Tsunade was and quietly sat down in a chair that was seated across from her.

"Sakura..first off I want to say I'm sorry for hiding this from you, I was trying to protect you."

Sakura glared at her mentor. "Protect me from what?"

"I thought it would be better if you didn't know your true elven lineage. Let you live life without any burdens."

Sakura gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists. "Burdens? Don't make me laugh Tsunade, I'm already passed that point." Sakura released her hands and relaxed them. "Madara told me how the Haruno clan was wiped out and that only a handful of people including him know of the Haruno clan. Apparently we are easy to identify, especially with the pink hair that _only_ women of the Haruno clan possess."

"Did he also tell you that Haruno elves are one of the best healers?" Tsunade said.

"Yes, that we have extraordinary healing abilities"

Tsunade paused for a few moments before speaking again, revealing something Sakura never knew about her.

"It's because of a Haruno, that I'm alive today." Sakura's eyes widen in shock. "W-what? A Haruno saved your life?"

Tsunade's expression saddened at the painful memory. "He didn't just save my life, he gave it, in order to save mine, many years ago." Sakura didn't know what to say, she was too shocked on what she was hearing.

"His name was Dan, he was the one who took me in when I was an orphan and taught me everything I know. When I was 20 I foolishly lost my footing and fell off a steep cliff in the mountains and was critically injured and passed out from blood loss and shock." Tsunade touched her mark on her forehead. "He found me soon after that and...he healed me, using his own life. When I woke up I saw his motionless body next to mine, shriveled up like a dead tree. When I touched him, he just turned to dust and the wind carried him away, I wasn't able to give him a proper burial, let alone thanking him for saving my life."

A single tear fell down Tsunade's cheek. "It wasn't until later I realized the same mark he had on his forehead was on me, he had transferred the rest of of his life into me and some of Haruno traits, such as never becoming ill, strength and the ability to heal faster, but since I'm human, I'm not able to fully use the healing ability."

Tsunade hesitated for a brief moment. "Sakura, the reason why Haruno elves are the best healers because they use their own life force to heal others. Because of this Harunos are unable to live long lives, not many live past 300 years. I was afraid once people knew, word would spread and the whole kingdom will be wanting you to heal everyone and in the end you will be gone from this world before I know it. I'm so sorry Sakura...I just wanted to protect you."

"Tsunade, I don't need you to protect me, I can look after myself. You should've told me right at the beginning. It's a lot better hearing it from someone you know and trust, compared to a complete stranger.

Sakura got up from her seat and walked out of the kitchen, making her way to the door.

Tsunade wiped her tears away. "Where are you going Sakura?"

" I need...to get some fresh air" and the door quietly closed leaving Tsunade behind.

* * *

The sound of metal hitting each other echoed in the courtyard. Naruto fell backwards on the ground, dropping his sword.

"Oww..my back" Naruto faked his pain.

"Hn. Dobe" Sasuke offered his hand for Naruto to get up. Naruto accepted the help and quickly took that opportunity to try and flip Sasuke but failed as Naruto soon found himself on the ground again, on his face this time. Naruto quickly got up and wiped the dirt and grass off his face and pointed a finger at Sasuke in a childish way.

"You Bastard!" Naruto yelled out.

"You won't gain anything by playing dirty dobe" Sasuke said as he picked up a towel and put it in a bucket of water and twisted the cloth to remove excess water then tossed it in Naruto's direction. Naruto began cleaning the dirt off his face with the wet towel.

"Not my fault you have those magical eyes of yours, they can see my every movement." Naruto complained.

"Sharingan"

Naruto finished cleaning his face and tossed the towel aside. "Sharin- what?"

Sasuke sat down on a bench that was next to a tree that provided shade and unsheathed his sword and began cleaning the dirt off it with a cloth.

"Sharingan, all Uchiha born elves have this ability. It allows us to see and determine our enemy's next move from the slightest muscle movement. It also allows us to cast illusions the moment you look directly into our eyes, allowing us to confuse the enemy before making the final strike. Of course it takes many years of training to achieve such skills."

Sasuke sheathed his sword and looked up in Naruto's direction with crimson eyes but this time they had what appeared to be three tomoe around his pupil. A chill went down Naruto's spine and he found himself unable to move his legs.

"Once mastered, some Uchihas can even see into your mind." Sasuke got up and walked up to Naruto who was still frozen in place.

"And what your mind is telling me is that you wish to marry Hinata and soon." Sasuke smirked deactivating his Sharingan. Naruto's face glowed red as he was finally able to move on his own again.

" So what if I want us to get married soon? I- I love her" Naruto exclaimed. Naruto gathered himself and picked up his sword from the ground and pointed it in Sasuke's direction.

"How about you and Sakura? Didn't think I would noticed you two together did you?" Naruto said with a grin on his face.

Sasuke didn't know how to answer his friend's question and thought to himself. _"What exactly was his relationship with Sakura?"_

"She and I are friends, training is over Naruto" Sasuke brushed past Naruto in a rush.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that Sasuke, just don't wait until it's too late"

Sasuke swiftly turned around with an annoyed look on his face. "What's that supposed to mean Naruto?"

"You have to realize Sakura is not only one of the most beautiful women out there but she also educated and gifted with medicine, you never know, some guy will steal her before you." Naruto said nonchalantly.

Sasuke glared daggers at the prince. "Tch." Sasuke angrily walked out of the courtyard.

Naruto stood there with a goofy smile on his face. "Haha! I made the bastard jealous" then his smile quickly turned into a childish frown "That bastard's sharingan is powerful enough to look into people's minds, so not creepy at all" Naruto mumbled.

A servant quickly went over to Naruto. "Prince Naruto, Lady Hinata is here."

"What already?! I need to get cleaned up, uh tell her I'll be there shortly!" Naruto ran out of the courtyard into the palace to get ready for his date with his future Queen.

* * *

Sasuke was in his room, he had just finished taking a bath, fully clothed and was drying his hair with a towel until he heard a knock from his door. "Hm?" Sasuke tossed the damp towel on a chair and opened the door to see who it was. He knew who it was immediately due to the color of their hair.

"What is it Karin?" Sasuke answered in a bored tone. The red head adjusted her glasses on her face and looked at Sasuke in a sweet manner.

"Hi Sasuke, I was umm, wondering if you would like to head into the city for a meal together?" Karin said in a soft gentle voice hoping her invite would attract the Uchiha elf.

Sasuke didn't want to be rude to the Queen's niece, he knew she fancies him but he just was not interested in her at all. "I'm not interested" Sasuke politely declined.

"We don't have to eat, we can just go for a walk or some-"

"Karin, I'm sorry but I'm not interested" Sasuke closed the door on her.

Feeling rejected again Karin clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms. She walked down the corridor, upon reaching the end of the hall she heard Sasuke's door open again, she quickly hid behind the wall and spied on the elf leaving the room. Sasuke was in his casual clothes covered by his black cape, he left the room in the opposite direction the lead out of the palace. This made Karin more aggravated and mentally scream.

 _"I bet he's going out to see_ _her! What's so good about her?! She's a nobody and I'm part of the royal family."_ Karin bit her thumb. A male voice brought Karin back to reality, slightly startling her in the process.

"Karin, Orochimaru requires your assistance"

Karin scoffed. "What does he want now Kabuto?"

"Just follow me"

Karin narrowed her eyes and looks at him in suspicion "Fine."

Kabuto led Karin through a maze of corridors and underground secret passages. Karin was getting tired of all the walking.

"I feel like we've been walking for ages" Karin complained. Kabuto stopped in front of a dead end. Karin was unamused at this point, she crossed her arms in front of her and huffed. Kabuto traced his index finger against the stone wall in the form of a triangle. "Reveal" a white light faintly glowed in the shape of the triangle and a wooden door appeared.

Kabuto opened the door and held it open for Karin. She was a little reluctant at first, due to being in a part of the palace she's never been in but throws away her worries quickly and steps in the large room filled with machines, medical equipment, laboratory equipment and what looks like years of study and research on boards and books everywhere. There was some shuffling in the room in the far back, Orochimaru came out with lab coat and gloves on him.

"Ah, Karin dear, I see you have finally arrived in my little part of the palace, a secret liar as some call it, come sit." Orochimaru said offering her a metal stool to sit on"

"It's fine I can stand" Karin began to slowly walk around the large room, examining it.

"So... what is it that you needed me for?" Karin said as she picked up a random beaker off one of the tables filled with pink liquid and gave it a few swirls.

Orochimaru pulled off his lab gloves and set the aside on a table near him, then stuck his hands back into his lab coat pockets.

"I presume you know who Sakura is by now yes?"

Karin stopped messing around with the beaker and put it down forcefully on the table, nearly breaking it.

"Of course I know her, she's the harlot that stole my Sasuke away from me" Karin growled.

"Now, now, don't be so quick to anger now. I need you to get her to me" Orochimaru calmly said.

Karin started walking around the room again. "Why do you want her? She's nothing special, she's just another half breed" Karin said in disgust.

Orochimaru smiled. "On the contrary, she is one of a kind, I don't suppose you ever heard of the Haruno elves?"

Karin lifted her eyebrow at him. "Nope, never heard of them, nor do I care."

Orochimaru chuckled. "Well I do, as you see, she is one of the last of the Haruno bloodline and is the key to my research." Orochimaru fumbled around in his left pocket and pulled out a small glass vial filled with a light purple liquid. He held it out to Karin. "You will be needing this to bring back my flower to me."

Karin took the vial and inspected it, holding it up against a lamp in the room. "So this is going to knock her out or something?" Karin questioned.

Orochimaru's eyes darken. "A poison to be precise, a specific concoction I've created to not only put her to sleep, but paralyze her whole body so that she will never leave me again."

 _"This guy is beyond creepy"_ Karin thought. She shoved the vial in her pockets. "As long as I get my Sasuke." Karin chimed.

A low cough can be heard in the back room and this made Karin curious. She was about to pull away at the curtains shielding the room until Kabuto stopped her.

"What's back there?" Karin asked in a very curious tone.

"It's fine Kabuto, let her see, she's curious." Kabuto stepped aside and Orochimaru walked up to Karin, holding out his arm to block her from entering.

"Now Karin, you mustn't tell anyone what you see here" Orochimaru said in a low voice.

"What is in that room?" Karin's voice now serious.

"Possibly my greatest achievement, my life's work" Orochimaru slowly removed the curtain that was in the way.

Karin's eyes widen in shock at the sight before her. The light in the room was dim but she can still make out what was in the room. What appears to be a large machine like device with a hollow opening in the center, medical tools on small tables around the machine, alchemy and magic books opened and specific pages bookmarked on a long table against the wall. Lastly what made her blood run cold was the body of an incomplete being, submerged in green liquid with only its face above the water's surface. Karin put her hand up to her mouth to prevent herself from hurling right there and ran out of the room.

"Should I kill her Orochimaru?" Kabuto said ready to track down Karin.

"There's no need for that Kabuto" Orochimaru said as he we to a table across the main room to retrieve his gloves.

"How are you sure she will not tell the king?" Kabuto sounding more frantic.

Orochimaru started putting on his lab gloves. "Because she is in love with that Uchiha elf and will do anything it takes to rid of any obstacle in her way. She may be shaken up for now but she will get over it and get my lost flower back to me." Orochimaru walked to the entrance to the back room and pushed aside the curtains.

"She is after all the key to immortality" Orochimaru walked over to the machine and peered into it. "Isn't that right Subject 2?" Orochimaru chuckled as he picked up a beaker from one of the tables and poured the dark red liquid that was in it, into the water.

The subject let out a low groan as eyes begin to slowly open, revealing dull green eyes underneath.

* * *

 **Hi everyone! I originally wanted to post this chapter on Halloween but my computer decided it wanted to retire FOREVER. :(**

 **So hello new computer!~ (please don't retire early)**

 **Until the next chapter of _Hana~_**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **A/N** : Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing _Hana_! Now I bring you _Hana_ chapter 11! Enjoy!~

.

It was late afternoon and streets of Konoha City was as busy as usual. People walking on the sides of the street bumping into each other trying to get to their destination. The loud voices of street food vendors calling out to potential customers to buy their products. Sakura has been wandering the streets most of the morning and early afternoon to process what Tsunade has told her. She was frustrated but at the same time she wasn't angry with her at all, she didn't know how to deal with the situation. She sat down on a wooden bench to rest but then her stomach betrayed her and started to growl. She hasn't eaten anything since she woke up and to make things worse, she didn't have any money on her since she just left abruptly. Sakura slumped over and groaned.

"Sakura?" a familiar feminine voice behind her called out.

Sakura turned around and saw her friend and gave a weak smile. "Oh, hey Ino."

Ino looked at her friend with a confused look. "Ok something is definitely wrong here, get your ass off that bench and let's go back to my place." Grabbing onto Sakura's arm, trying to get her to stand up.

Sakura brushed off her hand. "Leave me alone pig, I want to be alone." Right after Sakura said that, her stomach growled, loudly. Ino lifted the basket hanging on her other arm and revealed it had freshly baked breads and grinned.

"I also have chicken and vegetable soup back home" Ino said, tempting Sakura.

Sakura didn't want to go back home yet, she lowered her head in defeat. "Yeah, let's go before I die from starvation" Sakura joked.

Ino smiled brightly. "That's the spirit!" Ino yelled out before dragging Sakura back to her place.

* * *

Ino placed a bowl of hot soup in front of Sakura, the collection of breads on a platter in the middle of the kitchen table and a water pitcher with two cups. Sakura's mouth watered at the smell of the soup and picked up her spoon and started blowing on the hot liquid to cool it off. Ino poured a bowl of soup for herself and sat next to Sakura, she put her spoon in her soup and gave it a few whirls to cool it off.

"Sooo, what's been bothering you?" Ino asked.

Sakura brought the her spoon to her mouth and blew on it before sipping the soup. She then placed the spoon back in her bowl and looked down.

"Tsunade and I got into an argument. She withheld information about me that she knew from the beginning when she met me."

Ino picked up the pitcher and poured water into both cups "What did she hide from you?"

"She hid the fact that she knew about my...elven heritage." Sakura said.

Ino almost over poured water in her cup upon hearing Sakura talk about her ancestry. She placed the pitcher quickly to the side. "Your elven heritage?! You never talk about it, like ever. "

Sakura sighed. " I know, I never really talked or cared about it until recently, a person told me about this elven clan that technically doesn't exist anymore."

"And what clan is that?"

Sakura took a a loaf of bread from the platter and broke it in half, handing Ino the other half. "The Haruno clan, apparently all women in this particular clan have pink hair, that's why this person confronted me and told me that I was a Haruno elf, well half of me that is.

Ino took the bread and tore and dipped it in the soup and ate it before speaking again. "Pink hair? Sakura I know there aren't many people with pink hair, but it doesn't mean that you are a Haruno." Ino said with a skeptical look on her face.

"That person said he knew my mother, he even said her name, Reika.." Sakura said as she quietly finished her soup.

Ino left her soup half eaten and crossed her arms. "And you believe him? How do you know he's not dangerous, he could've dug up that information up from somewhere."

" I don't trust him but I do know what he said about my mother is right, his eyes looked sad when he said my mother's name." Sakura let out a sigh. "And he's the only person that can tell me more about my clan and my family."

"And if he tries to hurt you?" Ino asked in a worried tone.

"He won't, He's an elder of the Uchiha clan and I believe if he wanted to hurt me, he would've done so already."

"I guess that's true.." Ino got up from her chair and started collecting the bowls and putting them in the sink.

"But you still have to make up with Tsunade, you can't stay over tonight."

Sakura picked up the cups and brought them over to the sink. "I wasn't planning to, why, are you expecting company?" Sakura suspiciously eyed her best friend.

"Actually yes, his name is Sai, he's an elf I've been seeing" Ino said in confidence.

"Please spare me the details, I'll be out of your hair as soon as I finish my bread." Sakura said with her mouth full.

Ino turned around with both hands on her hips. "Oh? And what about you and lover boy, what's his name? Oh right, Sasuke" Ino said with an playful smile.

Sakura nearly choked on her food. "W-We aren't like that!" Sakura yelled feeling a warm flush creeping across her face. She stood up and took the last of her bread.

"I'm taking this to go, have fun on your date" Sakura grumbled and went downstairs.

Ino burst out laughing as she witnessed her friend get embarrassed over a guy. "Sure, keep telling yourself that Sakura."

* * *

Sakura stepped out of the flower shop onto the orange and red street, it was sundown. Sakura groaned.

 _"Evening already? I really don't want to head back right now"_ Sakura thought to herself.

 _"I guess I really have no choice, I don't have any money on me."_ Sakura started her long walk back home.

Even though it was close to evening people were still out and about. Sakura can smell the delicious food from various food vendors along the side of the street. This made her mouth water, even though she just ate, it wasn't really filling. She walked passed a few shops displaying various goods, from dresses to cakes. Her stomach growled again at the thought of eating cake.

Sakura stopped walking and put her hand up to her stomach in effort to quiet down her hunger. "Ugh shut up.." Sakura mumbled. Sakura was about to resume walking when a loud noise what sounded like a large object fell over in the alleyway behind her. Sakura forgot about her hunger and rushed to go find the source of the noise, thinking a person could've gotten hurt or trapped under something. The alleyway was littered with empty wooden crates that nearby shops threw out, there were also broken pieces of what looked like furniture here and there. Sakura then saw a large bookcase lying on the ground, wood rotting and the back cracked.

"This is what made the loud sound earlier." Sakura heard scratching coming from underneath the bookshelf and hurried over and lifted it with both arms, it was heavy but she managed to lift it enough so there would be enough room to get out. A white flash bolted out under the bookshelf and between Sakura's legs and ran out of the alleyway.

"What the...a cat?" Sakura dropped the object and examined her hands for any dirt and proceeded to walk back out onto the sidewalk. She stopped at the entrance to the alleyway and looked back into it. She couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something else there. The bookcase was large, were there two cats having a scuffle with each other and knocked the bookshelf over?

Sakura shook the thought off. "Whatever" and continued walking home.

After the pinkette left a person hidden behind a pile of wooden crates came out and let out a deep breath of relief.

"Stupid cat." Karin growled, she was following Sakura until the feline rubbed itself on her leg trying to getting attention from the red haired elf that was hiding behind the now fallen bookshelf. Karin is highly allergic to cats and in quick response to it, she backed away into the bookshelf making it fall over and somehow the cat got trapped under it. Karin put her hood back on her head and disappeared back into the shadows.

* * *

Sasuke took a sip from his tea, he was at a cafe that serves one of the best teas he's had and he's been a frequent customer since he arrived in Konoha. He was sitting at one of the few chairs and tables the cafe provides for customers that prefer to enjoy their beverage outdoors. Sasuke was deep in thought, what Naruto said earlier still hasn't left his head. What was Sakura to him? Sasuke put down his cup and looked at the steam rising up from the tea. He knows he acts differently around her, he cares about her well-being but was there more to it? A woman squealing interrupted his thoughts. He saw a young man and woman across the street standing in front of a garden full of red roses and looked at them with an annoyed look. Sasuke activated his sharingan for a closer look on what all the ruckus was about. The woman was now embracing the man and was smiling and for some reason in tears. The man was hugging her back and in his right hand he was holding onto a small purple box. The couple pulled apart and the man opened the box, revealing a golden ring. Now instead of being annoyed, Sasuke was now curious about the situation in front of him, using his advanced hearing, he heard the man speak.

"Emily, I love you, I want to spend the rest of my life with you." the man said.

The woman spoke. "Me too, I want to be with you Robert, I love you."

Sasuke deactivated his sharingan and looked back at his tea.

 _"Love.."_ Sasuke thought before drinking the last of his tea.

"Sasuke?" a familiar voice called out.

Sasuke turned his head and saw the person and felt his heart skip a beat, but his face remained calm.

"Sakura, what brings you out here?" Sasuke asked in a calm tone.

Sakura half smiled. "Oh the usual, possibly avoiding going home due to a disagreement between Tsunade and I." Sakura let out a weak laugh. Sasuke knew something was wrong, her eyes were telling a different story. Sasuke stood up.

"Are you hungry?" Sasuke asked changing the topic.

Sakura thought for a moment. "Actually..yes, I'm pretty hungry but I'm on my way home right now." Sakura answered before her stomach answered for her.

"Have dinner with me, since you are already here" Sasuke said.

"Uh..well you see..I don't have any money on me, I forgot it when I left" Sakura nervously replied.

"I'll pay, plus you look like you don't want to go back yet." He said looking into her eyes.

Sasuke guessed right, she didn't want to go back yet and she was starving so she gave in. "I'll take you up on your offer, let's go."

* * *

Sakura chuckled. "You must really like tomatoes Sasuke." Sakura said watching the dark-haired elf eat his tomato soup. They were in a tavern known for having the best roasted quails in the city. There were a couple other people at different tables and a person at the bar. Usually you eat soup or a salad before your main meal but for some odd reason Sasuke prefers his soup after his meal but it didn't bother Sakura one bit, she actually found it cute, seeing a tall, lean, attractive-

"It's rude to stare Sakura" Sasuke stated as he finished his soup and wiping his mouth with a cloth napkin.

Sakura smiled. "But you looked like you were really enjoying that tomato soup."

Sasuke couldn't help but not look into her bright green eyes, they were very alluring. Sasuke let out a small cough looking away quickly before meeting Sakura's gaze again. "Tomatoes happens to be my favorite food is all."

"Do you need anything to drink Sir? Miss?" The tavern waitress asked.

"No, we're alright, thank you." Sakura answered

Sakura sat up straight and put her hands on her lap, giving Sasuke a gentle look. "I'm going to take a big guess that you want to know what happened earlier?"

"Only if you tell me" Sasuke answered.

Sakura sighed. "Well I confronted Tsunade this morning, awhile after you left and we got into a fight. I was angry at first, very angry, but after thinking about it for awhile I felt sad for her, knowing all this time I was a Haruno and the curse that comes with being one. She wanted to save me from that fate, she was just trying to protect me and I understand that now." Sakura said with a light smile.

"Speaking of which, have you ever heard of the Haruno Clan Sasuke? I mean you've been around for awhile."

"Tch. I'm not that old, I'm only 105 years older than you. One hundred years is nothing to an elf and certainly not old. We don't age like humans do." Sasuke said in a defensive tone.

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at Sasuke getting defensive about his age. "Did I hit a soft spot Sasuke? It's alright, you're not that old to me."

Once Sakura calmed down from her laughter Sasuke brought them back on topic. "No, I never heard of the Haruno clan, where did you hear this from?"

Sakura shifted in her seat. "Well actually I learned it from your clan elder, Madara."

Sasuke's face went from clam to serious in a blink of an eye. "Madara? What did you tell you?"

"He told me the abilities that Haruno elves have and specific physical traits Haruno women have, which would be the pink hair. Other than that I don't know anything else."

Before Sasuke could speak again about how he doesn't trust Madara, Sakura spoke again.

"I want to learn more, err..I mean since the clan isn't really around or recorded in books I thought I can go meet him again."

"Sakura.." Sasuke didn't want her alone with Madara at all. Even as an elder, Sasuke doesn't fully trust him.

"I want to know more about my mother Sasuke, who she was, what was she like before I was born. Please Sasuke, let me meet him, he's the only one that knows." Sakura said with pleading eyes.

Sasuke leaned his arms on the table and ran his hand through his spiky black hair, thinking for a minute and sighed. "Under one condition."

"Anything" Sakura looked at him with a serious expression.

"I will accompany you. That is the only way. Madara may be the elder of my clan but I don't trust him. I don't want anything to happen to you." Sasuke stated.

Sakura was taken aback by what Sasuke said but agreed.

"We would need to travel back to my village, Madara left to go back this morning, along with my parents." Sasuke said leaning back in his chair.

"They already left, why so soon?" Sakura asked.

"My father is the head of the clan he can't be away for long, if he's not present my mother takes his place. There needs to be a clan leader present in the village to keep everything in order. I don't know why Madara left early, but I know he left with my parents, I saw them off when they left."

"So a journey to your village then? It sounds fun, I get to see a clan of elves for the first time, when do we go?" Sakura said slightly excited.

"One week's time, that is when my time here ends."

Sakura couldn't help but feel sad upon hearing that Sasuke's time in Konoha will be over soon. In a short time she and Sasuke became close friends and her chest felt heavy.

"Alright, that gives me plenty of time to pack and get ready, how long will it take for us to get there?" Sakura said quietly.

"Two days" Sasuke answered.

The tavern waitress came to their table with a tired but friendly expression on her face.

"I'm sorry to bother you two but we are closing now."

"Oh! We're sorry about that, we'll pay and leave now." Sakura said. Sakura and Sasuke got up from their table and Sasuke paid for their food and they left the tavern.

The moment they both walked outside the cool air hit their faces. It was nighttime.

"Wow, the time flew by fast while we were in there huh?" Sakura said to Sasuke.

"It did"

Sakura looked down the cobblestone road and the lamps on the sidewalk, lighting the way. "My home is close by, let's go get you a carriage-" Sakura turned to her right side and blinked a couple times, he was gone.

"I didn't even get to thank him for the meal, jerk." Sakura pouted.

"I heard that" Sakura turned around quickly to find the Uchiha inches away from her face.

"I don't need a carriage."

Sakura's body tensed up and her heart beating fast. "H-How-"

Sasuke stepped away smirking. "I'll see you later." And he turned around and walked in the opposite direction down the street, with his hands in his pockets.

"J-Jerk!" Sakura yelled, she turned and stormed off in the direction of her house.

Sasuke reached the end of the street and put a hand to his face, covering his his mouth and part of his cheek, to hid the blush that crept on his face.

 _"Damn that was close."_

* * *

Sakura stood in front of the door. She's been standing there for the past 15 minutes, just staring at the door and thought about the person who was on the other side. Sakura scratched her head in frustration.

"Ok, you can do this" Sakura said to herself. She reached in her pocket for the keys.

Sakura froze. She completely forgot that she didn't bring the shop keys with her. Sakura mentally hit herself. She looked at the lock closely then took a pin out from her hair and bent the weak metal into shape to pick the lock. She learned how to pick locks when she was a teenager and hopefully her skills haven't rusted over the years. Sakura fumbled with the lock for a few minutes with fail. Frustrated Sakura attempted at turning the doorknob and to her surprise it was unlocked the whole time. Sakura hit herself mentally again on why she didn't try turning the knob in the first place.

Sakura closed the door and locked it. She looked at the front counter, the glass was cleaned up and replaced. She walked into the kitchen and found Tsunade sitting on a chair, leaned over on the table, passed out. There were a few bottles of empty wine bottles on the table.

Sakura gave her a gentle nudge on her shoulder. "Tsunade, you can't sleep here, you will catch a cold."

Tsunade stirred in her sleep and slowly opened her eyes. "Sa-Sakura? Is that you?..." Tsunade said in a slurred voice.

 _"She's still drunk"_ Sakura thought.

Sakura helped Tsunade up and brought her upstairs into her room. She put her to bed and covered her with blankets.

"Hmm...Sakura..I'm sorry. I only wanted to..protect you. To me...you are like my daughter..I just wanted to..protect you." Tsunade said before dozing off.

"I know. Goodnight Tsunade." Sakura said softly before exiting the bedroom.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **A/N** : Thank you everyone for reading _Hana_! Now I bring you _Hana_ chapter 12! Enjoy!~

.

Karin was in her room, she had just finished having breakfast with her Aunt's family and headed back to her room once she was finished. The moment she closed the door to her room she kicked off her boots and hopped onto her bed. She looked around her room and thought about redecorating it again. Being a relative of the Queen has its perks, she gets anything she wants, when she wants it, that includes completely refurnishing her room until it's to her liking. Right now her room is decorated with dark purple, light pinks and gold. Karin glared at the light pink, she was getting tired of seeing that color.

"I should change everything to lavender" Karin mumbled as she closed her eyes. She was lying on her back on her bed. Thinking about her meeting with Orochimaru the week prior.

 _"Bring my flower back to me"_ Orochimaru's voice echoed through her mind. Karin opened her eyes and leaned over to her nightstand next to her bed and opened the small drawer in front of it. She lazily shifted around the messy drawer until she found what she was looking for. She held the vial above her head between her thumb and index finger and watched as the sunlight beamed through the light purple liquid.

There was a knock at the door. Startled, Karin quickly shoved the vial into her pocket and sat up on her bed. "Come in!" Karin answered.

The door opened and it was Queen Kushina. "Hello Karin, how are you doing dear? You were quiet during breakfast." Kushina asked as she entered Karin's room.

"I'm fine, a lot has been on my mind lately." Karin confessed. The Queen closed the door and went over to Karin's bed and sat down on the edge.

"You know..it's almost the anniversary of your parents passing, don't forget to visit their graves and pay your respects to them." Kushina said in a sad but soft tone.

" I know, I will never forget that day ever." Karin said in a low voice with a hint of anger behind it.

 _ **Flashback**_

It was night. A woman with red hair in her late twenties came running into her daughter's room frantically looking for her daughter.

"Karin! Karin where are you!"

A little girl around 9 years old came out from under the bed. "I'm right here mommy, I was hiding under the bed because I heard noises outside and it scared me.."

The woman looked outside her daughter's window and can see the growing orange glow getting closer and closer to her home.

"Where's daddy?" Karin asked her mother.

"Daddy is out right now talking to the people on the street." The sound of glass breaking downstairs and multiple footsteps can be heard. Karin's mother immediately closed and barricaded the door with a dresser.

Karin's mother ran other to the closet and opened it quickly and moved items away, revealing a secret latch that opened a secret trap door on the floor in the closet. Karin's mother grabbed her daughter's hand and lead her to the secret hiding place. and put her in there.

"Karin, honey, your daddy and I love you with all our hearts. We will always be with you." Her mother started crying.

"Mommy, what's happening?! I'm scared." Karin cried out, tears streaming down her face.

"Karin, whatever you do, Do not leave this place until the bad men are gone. Remember how daddy taught you to hid your energy? I need you to do that sweetheart." Karin's mother placed a kiss on her daughter's forehead. "I love you so much sweetheart."

"Mommy!" Karin called out. Her mother closed the trap door on her and closed the closet door. Karin can hear banging on her door.

"Open up! We know you're in there along with that tainted!" A man yelled out.

Karin then heard the door break down and her mother screaming. Karin had to cover her mouth with both her hands to prevent herself from screaming herself.

"Where is it?!" another man demanded.

"She's not here. She's gone to Konoha, the Queen is my sister, you will never lay a hand on my child!" Karin's mother yelled out.

"Vile woman, did you not know tainted are an abomination of nature? Thus they should all be eliminated to keep the human race pure. Check the room!"

Karin can hear her mother struggling and furniture flipped in the room and then the closet door opened. Karin froze, she remembered what her mother told her and did her best to hide her energy. Karin can see a small light come through the small crack in the floor. Then she heard a man come in the closet and rummage around and left again. Karin couldn't see who the mysterious men were but she can sense their energy. She felt six different energies, excluding her mother's energy.

"The tainted isn't here Claude, what do you want us to do?"

Claude gritted his teeth in anger. "Kill the traitor, we already eliminated the father. We need to continue our mission to cleanse the human race. Find and kill all tainted."

Claude went over to Karin's mother who was now kneeling on the floor, beaten. She looked up and glared at Claude.

"Any last words traitor?"

Karin's mother spat in Claude's face. "Go to Hell!"

Claude wiped the saliva off his cheek with his hand and turned his back on her. "No, that's where you're going for creating a monster." Claude quickly unsheathed his sword and swung his sword at her neck.

Time stood still for Karin. Her eyes widened in shock. She could no longer feel her mother's energy anymore. More tears fell down her face and her hands clasp around tighter on her mouth.

* * *

The gates to front palace opened as a carriage rushed into the courtyard. King Minato and Queen Kushina along with servants followed them out into the courtyard. Kushina rushed to the door of the carriage and opened it. A knight came out first and looked into Kushina's worried eyes.

"I'm sorry my Queen, we were too late, they already attacked the town of Kusa." The knight said, then stepped aside. "Your niece was the only survivor of the massacre."

Karin slowly stepped out of the carriage and looked into her Aunt's eyes with a blank expression on her face.

"Karin dear, you will be living with us from now on. With me, uncle Minato and your cousin Naruto."

Karin only nodded. Since that day she's never told anyone what she saw or heard after she left the hiding spot in her closet.

 _ **End of**_ **Flashback**

"Well tell me when you want to visit their graves, I will accompany you." Kushina said with a warm smile.

"Thanks Auntie" Karin said in a genuine tone.

"Well I need to go attend a meeting with your uncle, you know boring political stuff for the city." Kushina said with a wink. She left Karin's room and Karin was alone again.

Karin moved to the edge of her bed and sat on the edge. She dug into her pocket and pulled out the vial again and looked at it one last time before making her final decision.

* * *

It took Karin awhile to get past the maze of passages that led to Orochimaru's hideout deep withing the castle walls. She held the lamp up to the same stone wall that Kabuto stopped at and performed a spell that revealed the door. She traced a triangle shape on the wall with her index finger and waited. Nothing happened.

"Why isn't it working?" Karin whispered. She thought back to when Kabuto performed the spell.

 _"Reveal"_

Karin redid the same motions. "Reveal." A wooden door slowly appeared in front of her and she pushed the door open, going inside.

Orochimaru was at his desk going through research and looked up at Karin and smiled. "Ah Karin, nice of you to come by." Orochimaru closed his research book and walked up to Karin. He took off his glasses and started cleaning them with his lab coat.

"So have you thought about my proposition?" Orochimaru asked.

"Yes and I'll do it. I'll bring your flower back to you." Karin said with determination in her voice.

Orochimaru's eye lit up in joy. "Excellent! Kabuto, come bring me the cloak" Orochimaru called out in the direction of the back room. Moments later Kabuto came out wearing a surgical mask, white apron and gloves and what looks like blood splatters on the mask and apron. Karin stood there and looked at Kabuto, she didn't want to ask for details on what was going on in the other room. Kabuto pulled his mask down under his chin and handed to Orochimaru what seem like an ordinary looking cloak. Orochimaru examined the fabric for a minute before handing it to Karin. She raised an eyebrow at the seemingly cheap brown fabric.

"I already have a cloak, but thanks." Karin said as she was about to hand the item back to Orochimaru until he knocked the cloak out of her hands and fell onto the ground.

"What was that for?!" Karin yelled.

"Look down child." Orochimaru said with a smile.

Karin looked down and to her surprise the cloak was gone. She kneeled down on the floor and felt around the cold floor until she felt the fabric and picked it back up. The moment the cloak came out of contact with the floor it changed back to it's normal ugly brown color.

"What..kind of magic is this?" Karin asked amazed.

"A high ranking spell casted on this cloak that allows the wearer to blend in the surroundings, camouflage. With this cloak and your elven ability to hid your energy, it will make you invisible to the naked eye." Orochimaru explained.

Karin proceeded to put on the cloak and the hood on. "I like the sound of that."

"I've been following Sakura all week and apparently she and Sasuke are going to visit his village. I don't know what for though." Karin then dug into her pocket and pulled out the vial.

"Will this be enough to poison her?" Karin asked.

"Yes, even half of the vial will be potent enough." Orochimaru went back over to his research table and opened a few books and put his glasses back on.

"I need you to follow them to the village and poison her there." he stated.

Karin looked at him as if he was crazy. "What? You want me to poison her while she's away from the City, in a village full of Uchiha elves?! That's a stupid plan." Karin argued.

"It is the best time. She knows I'm here in Konoha. She wouldn't expect me to get her in an elf village. Her guard will be down." Orochimaru flipped a page in his book, without looking at Karin.

"And how do you expect me to bring her unconscious body back here?!"

"A simple Teleportation spell would do." Orochimaru replied.

Karin scoffed. "That is a highly powerful spell that requires a mage of the same calibre. The only Mage that can perform a powerful spell like that is Kakashi."

"Ah, you see, that's where Kabuto comes in. Believe it or not he's a highly skilled mage, he just doesn't use it as often nor flaunt his magic in the public eye."

Karin's jaw dropped. "WHAT? HIM A MAGE?!" Karin said in a loud obnoxious tone.

Kabuto came out of the back room. "Can you speak in a quieter tone? I don't want you disturbing the subject." Kabuto said as he pulled off his gloves and taking off his mask.

"You're a mage. And a good one too, why are you doing this?" Karin asked as she motioned at the room around her.

"I'm more interested in science and what can come out of it." Kabuto said adjusting his glasses on his face.

"So, do you believe you are ready for your mission Karin?" Orochimaru asked looking up from his books into her eyes.

Karin narrowed her eyes. "I'll do whatever it takes."

A sinister smile appeared on Orochimaru's face. "Good. Kabuto prepare for her travels."

 _"I'll do whatever it takes to make Sasuke mine."_

* * *

"Remember to send me letters" Tsunade said.

Sakura rolled her eyes at her teacher. "I'm 27 not 17 anymore. I'm only going to be away for a couple of days, a week at most."

"Have you gotten everything you need?" Tsunade asked again for the third time.

"Yes-yes I have everything packed." Sakura replied.

It was late morning and Sakura was dressed in her traveling clothes which consisted of a light red long sleeved shirt, long flowy grey skirt with buttons in the front, a dark red cape with a hood and dark brown lace up ankle boots. Her and Tsunade were waiting in front of the shop waiting for Sasuke's carriage to arrive.

Sakura yawned and rubbed the back of her neck. "It Shouldn't be too hard without me. I taught Shizune how to create some herbal teas and your famous healing ointment."

After a few minutes watching passersby Sakura was starting to get impatient.

"Where is he? It's been almost an hour!" Sakura crossed her arms leaning against the shop building.

"Sakura, do you trust this Uchi- I mean Do you trust Sasuke? You will be traveling to his village, which is a long way from Konoha. The Uchiha elves are a powerful clan." Tsunade asked in a worried tone.

Sakura's eyes wandered across the street and gazed at white daffodils growing in a pot outside a shop. Her eyes became gentle at the sight of them.

Sakura looked back at Tsunade. "I trust him with my life."

A black carriage pulled by two dark brown horses stopped in front of the shop.

An elf with white hair greeted Sakura first. "Mornin' Sakura!"

Sakura put a hand on her hip. "Suigetsu, do you know what time it is?"

Suigetsu thought to himself for a moment. "Not a clue!"

"It's noon." Jugo told the white haired elf, who sat right next to him in the driver seat.

The door to the carriage opened. Sasuke gracefully stepped out and greeted Sakura and Tsunade. "I apologize for the delay, there was an issue with one of the wheels of the carriage." Sasuke said.

Sakura picked up her bags but Sasuke took her bags from her hands and proceeded to put them in the back of the carriage.

"Thanks" Sakura said. She turned to Tsunade who still had the look of worry on her face and smiled brightly. "I'll be back before you know it."

Sakura went into the carriage and sat by the door. Before entering the carriage himself Sasuke looked back at Tsunade. "I'll keep her safe."

"You better or I'll make sure you don't see the light of day again." Tsunade replied back in a threatening tone.

Sasuke smirked. "Hn" He closed the door and took his seat next to Sakura. Sakura looked through the side window and waved at Tsunade with a smile. Sasuke knocked on the front wall inside of the carriage, signaling that they were ready to go. The horses started pulling the carriage onto the busy street. Tsunade watched as the carriage grew smaller and smaller down the road.

"Stay safe kid."

* * *

 **I didn't think this would be a Karin chapter but I wanted everyone to know more about her part in my story. Karin's family were the last victims of Claude's group's murderous rampage across the kingdoms believing he was truly "cleansing" the human race. She was adopted by her aunt and has since lived in the royal palace in luxury. She believes due to the pain and loss she has experienced she is entitled to anything. This has turned her into a selfish person.**

 **I hope you guys look forward to the next chapter of _Hana_ and thank you again for reading!**

 **Until the next chapter of _Hana~_**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **A/N** : Sorry for long wait! Now I bring you _Hana_ chapter 13! Enjoy!~

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The view of Konoha city gates grew smaller as the carriage went further down the dirt road. Sakura looked out the back window and couldn't help but feel a little anxious. It's been awhile since she last left Konoha and that was when she was accompanying Tsunade on trips to different cities. Jade eyes watched as the city finally disappeared from her sight. She turned back around and faced forward then towards the side window. A few moments passed and she let out a small yawn.

The carriage wasn't small and it certainly wasn't big. Enough room to fit two people but even so, Sakura felt that her traveling companion was sitting very close to her.

"You should get some rest. It's a long trip to my village." Sasuke suggested as he leaned his head against the back of his seat closing his eyes.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Sakura answered. Now that she's thought about it, she hasn't been getting much sleep the past few days. She was busy teaching Shizune what to do while she was gone. She also stayed up nights making additional medicine for their clients in case Shizune forgot how to. Sakura let out another yawn and leaned over to her left side so her body was resting against the side wall of the carriage. She stared out of the window and saw nothing but grass and trees. She heard the horse's hooves against the dirt road. She could feel her eyelids getting heavier and heavier.

 _"Where am I?..."_

Sakura couldn't make out where she was. She kept seeing different scenes at different angles. At first she saw a tree, an extremely large tree. It was as if she was on the ground itself looking up at it as if she was a mere ant. Then she felt herself being physically pulled away and what she saw next is what seemed like the busy streets of Konoha. She was looking at her shop from the opposite side of the street. Sakura tried to move but she couldn't control her movements. It was another dream where you watch what's going on.

Her dream made her jump from one area to another. Some areas she can recognize and areas she's never been to. She can hear faint whispers and children laughing from a distance but couldn't see them. Sakura thought about the Uchiha village and in a flash she suddenly sees what looked like Mikoto and Fugaku, Sasuke's parents sitting near a table inside a room. She couldn't make it out, everything in the room was extremely blurry. All she knew was that she was very close to the Uchiha elves, literally up to their faces. Then the setting changed again. This time she was in a dimly lit room. She can see a window, which looked like it was the only source of light for the room she was currently in. Sakura looked around and saw what appeared to be a person sitting at a desk in the center of the room but couldn't make out their features. She saw the person get up from their desk and walked over to where Sakura was. The blurry figure became more defined as they got closer.

 _"What do we have here?"_ a male voice echoed.

 _"Madara..?"_ Sakura once again felt herself being pulled again to another environment. This time she was outside. There were many trees and she can make out what looked like a road. It seemed like this time she was high in the trees and looking downward but moving, as if she was on a horse in full gallop. She spotted another figure. This particular person was moving fast and in one direction under the cover of the trees.

 _"Who is that..?"_

Sakura tried to get a closer look but her vision soon faded and returned to darkness.

* * *

"Mmm..." Sakura groaned as she shifted her body as she began to wake up. She took a deep breathe in and inhaled and took in what smelled liked the forest after rainfall. Jade eyes slowly open, blinking a few times in the process. Blurry vision started to became focused and Sakura noticed she was leaning the opposite way from where she originally was, it was soft and warm. Sakura looked up and immediately went from groggy to awake in a split second and sat up straight, heat rushing to her cheeks.

 _"I was sleeping on him?!."_ Sakura thought loudly to herself. She then peered over at the ebony haired elf who was still sleeping, arms crossed against his chest. Sakura couldn't help but look at his sleeping figure, he looked so peaceful. Curiosity began to take over and Sakura inched her head closer to observe Sasuke's sleeping figure.

 _"He has long eyelashes."_ Sakura's eyes wandered down to his lips and didn't realize that she was subconsciously inching closer to him.

 _"Even while asleep he still looks handsome."_ Sakura let out a small smile.

 _"He also smells really good..."_ Sakura realized her face was right in front of his. With wide eyes, she quickly moved back to her original position and placed her hand across her mouth, blushing.

 _"Am I a pervert?!"_ Sakura couldn't believe that she almost kissed Sasuke while he was sleeping.

Moments later the carriage came to a stop and Suigetsu knocked on the front wall of the carriage, waking Sasuke up in the process. Sleepy onyx eyes revealed themselves and looked over at the pinkette seated next to him. Sakura was facing away from him and appeared to be looking out the side door window. A few moments later the carriage door opened on Sasuke's side and Suigetsu popped his head halfway inside.

"Wake up love birds, we're stopping to set up camp for tonight, it's almost evening." Suigetsu said with a toothy grin on his face.

 _"Love birds?!"_ Both Sasuke and Sakura thought aloud. The two both stole glances at each other and quickly turned the faces in the opposite directions.

Sasuke cleared his throat. "How about you go water the horses Suigetsu." Sasuke said to his subordinate, glaring at him.

"Hehe...right away boss!" Suigetsu replied with a nervous laugh.

"We're stopping for the night, we should reach my village by tomorrow." Sasuke said to Sakura as he stepped out of the carriage. He reached out his hand towards Sakura. Sakura looked at him in confusion.

"Are you getting off or do you plan on spending the night in there?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

It finally clicked in Sakura's mind that Sasuke was offering her help to get out of the carriage since it was a good foot from the ground itself.

"Oh! Uh sorry" Sakura said quickly as she maneuvered her way out to the exit of the carriage and placed her hands into Sasuke's. Right before she could step on the side steps of the carriage, she accidentally stepped on the hem of her cloak and tripped forward. Instinct took over and Sakura immediately closed her eyes put her arm in front of her to break the fall but she didn't hit the ground. She soon opened her eyes.

"Idiot.." Sasuke muttered under his breath. He caught Sakura in time. Both his arms were around her waist supporting her off the ground, while her arms were around his shoulders and neck.

The world around them became silent. The last time they were this close was during the ball several months ago. Sakura's heart was racing, she literally thought her heart would jump out of her chest. Sasuke's grip on her tightened a bit more.

Sasuke didn't know what came over him but held Sakura tighter and buried his face onto her soft slender neck and stayed like that for a minute.

Her smell was so intoxicating to him, he couldn't control what his next action was.

Sakura spoke out in an embarrassed tone of voice that broke the silence between them.

"Hey..Sasuke you can put me down-" Sakura stopped talking as she felt something on her neck.

The sound of footsteps can be heard and snapped Sasuke back to reality and released his grip on the now red faced woman in front of him.

Sasuke quickly composed himself as Juugo appeared with two large bags under both his arms.

"Shall I set up camp for tonight?" Juugo asked in a calm manner.

"Yes." Sasuke answered quickly. "You and Suigetsu should set up camp 30 feet over there by the trees."

"And I can get water for the horses!" Sakura interrupted as she walked hastily into the forest behind them.

Suigetsu had both borses with him and looked in the direction Sakura went with a look of confusion.

"How is she going to water the horses if she doesn't have anything to hold the water in?"Suigetsu questioned. "Plus there's a river in the opposite direction." Suigetsu added.

* * *

Twigs cracked and grass rustling underneath Sakura's feet as she made her way through the unknown forest. She was breathing heavily and reached a random tree and leaned against it, trying to catch her breath. She felt dizzy from what happened minutes prior.

 _"That Uchiha..he kissed my neck. That..That bastard!"_ Sakura screamed inside her head. She can feel her face is still hot with embarrassment. Her chest still pounding. She held her hand up to the spot where Sasuke kissed her.

"Calm down Sakura. Deep breaths." Sakura said to herself.

Several minutes passed and Sakura can feel herself finally calming down.

"Shit, I forgot to grab a bucket to get water for the horses." Sakura made her way back to their camp and already saw Juugo setting up tents for them and Suigetsu building the campfire. Suigetsu saw Sakura and called out to her

"Hey Sakura! You don't have to get water for the horses, I already got some for them!" Sakura answered back. "Alright!"

Sakura went back to the carriage to retrieve some belongings from the back. When she retrieved her smaller bag she went to the other side of the carriage, that was facing away from camp. Sakura dropped her bag on the ground and can feel the all too familiar heat rise up to her cheeks.

There was Sasuke right in front of her with his backside facing her, shirtless. He was in the middle of changing into lighter clothing due to the fact it was getting warmer in the region.  
Sakura couldn't help but stare at at his well defined muscles thanks to years of constant training. When he noticed there was a person standing behind him, he turned around.

 _"Oh..my..god. Those abs of his.."_ Sakura thought as her jaw dropped slightly. _"Oh my god I **am** a pervert!"_

Then she noticed some scars on his chest and her demeanor changed.

Sasuke was caught off guard when Sakura suddenly came up to him and touched his chest with her right hand, tracing her fingers over his battle scars.

"Did...it hurt?" Sakura asked with a hint of sadness and worry in her voice.

Sasuke looked at Sakura and placed his hand on hers on his chest. " I am an Uchiha, we fight to protect those who are dear. These are scars from the war long ago.

"The War..I see." Sakura turned around and headed back in the direction she took leading into the forest. She turned her head and smiled at the Uchiha, who finally put on a grey short sleeve shirt on.

"I'm going to take a look around the area for herbs, I should be back soon." Sakura said as she walked into the forest. Sasuke watched her leave into the forest. He knew deep down that her smile just now, was fake.

* * *

Old memories of her childhood began flooding back. The good and the bad. Sakura didn't care where she was going. she just wanted to be alone. Sakura found herself on another dirt road. The sun was setting and she's been walking for a good 30 minutes. Sakura sat down against a tree facing away from the sun and looked at the orange sky. The same sky she and Cai would play under, the same sky her family would spend countless nights under just watching and counting the stars. Sakura started feeling physically ill.

"Are you alright Miss?" Sakura looked up and saw a young boy around 10 with dark brown hair and blue eyes. Sakura got up and patted dirt off her skirt.

"Yeah I'm alright, it's getting late you should head home kid." Sakura said to the young boy.

"My name is Erik not kid!" he said in a childish manner.

Sakura laughed a bit. "Alright Erik, you should head on home before you get in trouble with your mom."

"Don't worry Miss, my house is just down this road. My mum won't get mad." Erik smiled.

"Well it's almost dark, you should hurry on home." Sakura said in a nagging tone.

"Yeah, Yeah I got it, I'll go home." Erik said before running off. A memory quickly flashed before Sakura.

 _"Yeah, Yeah I got it" Cai said as he ruffled his hair to get grass out of it._

 _"_ Cai.." Sakura whispered.

There was a thud and Sakura snapped out of it and looked in front of her.

"Owwww!" Erik yelled out as he was holding onto his knee with both hands. Sakura rushed over to the boy.

"Let me see your knee." Sakura said in a calm voice, kneeling down.

Erik let out a small whimpering sound as he removed his hands from his knee. Sakura can see he scrapped his knee and was starting to bleed pretty badly.

"It hurts!" Erik cried out.

"Well that's what happens when you run too fast and fall." Sakura looked into her bag for any bandages and ointment.

 _"Damn I left my medical bag back at the camp. If he doesn't get treated it might get infected._ _There's only one other way to treat it._ _"_ Sakura thought.

"I'm sorry Erik, it seems that I've left my medical bag behind. There's another way though, so don't freak out too much Erik." Sakura placed one hand on the wound.

"Ow! You're touching it! It hur-" Erik stopped complaining when he saw Sakura's hands illuminate a green light. His eyes widened at what was happening to him. Sakura removed her hand and Erik grabbed at his knee and examined it.

"It's..gone. The cut is gone!" Erik's eye's brightened up in amazement. Sakura stood back up and helped Erik back up on his feet.

"That was amazing! How did you do that?! Thank-" Erik was interrupted by an older woman's screaming voice.

"What are you doing to my son?!" A woman with blond hair and blue eyes who appeared to be in her late 20s ran up to Sakura.

"Mom look she made my cut go away, look." Erik explained to his mother. She looked at her son's knee and pulled him close to her and scowled at Sakura.

"Stay away from my family you witch! I saw what you did to my son from down the road!" She yelled at Sakura. Erik's mother then pushed Sakura away, hard enough for her to stumble and lose her balance and fell backwards but someone was behind her to prevent her from falling down.

"I assure you, she is not a witch." A masculine voice said from behind her.

Sakura looked up in shock. "Sasuke..? What are you doing here?"

Sasuke looked down at Sakura. "I was looking for you, since you took too long coming back to camp." Sasuke looked back up to the woman who was now clutching her son close to her.

"Is that any way to thank a person who has helped your child?" Sasuke said looking into the woman's eyes. Sasuke can see the fear entering her eyes.

"All of you are the same..Elves, Mages and Tainted! You are nothing but evil! You do nothing but bring death!" The woman spat out.

Sakura clenched her fist in anger.

"Let's go Erik!" The woman started to literally drag her son down the road by his arm. Erik turned his head to look back at Sakura and smiled. He used his free arm and waved at her.

"Thank you Miss!" Erik called out. This only aggravated his mother more and she pulled harder to make him face forward.

Sakura relaxed her hand and waved back, smiling even though Erik was already facing forward. When they were both out of sight Sakura turned towards the Uchiha elf.

Sakura held both hand behind her and eyed Sasuke. "So you followed me huh?"

"Hn." Sasuke tucked his hands inside his pants pocket and started walking back to their camp. Sakura followed closely behind him.

It was already dark and the moon was clear in the sky. Sakura looked up and the moon's light reflected off her eyes and she stopped walking and closed them. Sasuke noticed Sakura stopped walking and looked behind him and saw Sakura standing still, taking in the moon's light. She opened her eyes slowly showing her jade eyes now glowing slightly. She blinked once again and the glow was gone.

"I want to show you something Sakura said grabbing the hem of Sasuke's shirt, leading them back into the forest.

* * *

After what seemed like 10 minutes Sakura stopped in front of a a large tree with hanging branches and green leaves touching the ground.

"It's a weeping willow tree." Sakura explained. She then pushed the leaves and branches aside revealing a small grassy meadow with very little trees that block the sky and spring orchids scattered throughout the meadow that have been untouched by man. Sakura walked into the middle of the field and laid down on her back on the grass, completely relaxed. Sakura lifted her head up and motioned Sasuke to come over who was still standing by the weeping willow tree. He activated his sharingan and quickly scanned the area for any other persons. When he was sure there was no one else in the surrounding area he closed his eyes to deactivated his sharingan and walked over and stood next to Sakura. Sakura lifted her hand and gently pulled on his pants leg getting his attention.

"Lay down here with me, it's nice." Sakura said.

"Tch." Sasuke reluctantly sat down beside her and laid down on the grass. The next thing he saw was the starry sky and how bright the moon was. It was indeed a nice scene.

"Earlier with the child and his mother, thank you." Sakura said softly.

Sasuke turned his head towards Sakura. "About earlier when you tripped I didn't know what came over myself.."

"The sky is beautiful tonight." Sakura said smiling warmly while looking up. Sakura shifted her arm and her hand lightly bumped next to Sasuke's hand.

"Ah. It is beautiful." His fingers lightly touching Sakura's hand.

"Lets stay here for a little bit longer. there aren't many nights like this." Sakura said as she slowly intertwine their fingers

"Just awhile longer." Sasuke answered. Their hands now fully intertwined with each others.

* * *

 **Hello everyone! I apologize for the super long wait for this chapter to come out. Work always gets in the way :(**

 **100 Followers! For _Hana._ Just wow, thank you a lot everyone for reading and supporting _Hana_! **

**I hope you guys look forward to the next chapter of _Hana~!_**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any or any of its characters. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto.**

 **A/N** : Thank you everyone for the kind reviews! Now I bring you _Hana_ chapter 14! Enjoy~

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.

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The carriage began to rock less as the carriage transferred from the uneven dirt road to smooth cobblestone. Hooves of the horse gave sound as they hit against the stone ground. Sakura moved the window curtain aside a bit and peeked outside. Green eyes brighten as she took in the sights before her.

"It's so beautiful.." Sakura whispered to herself.

Sasuke smiled softly as he watched Sakura look outside the window.

Jade eyes scanned the area as the first thing she saw was how beautiful the architecture was and how clean the streets were. It wasn't heavily populated like Konoha but Sakura could see for the first time in her life, elves out and about with their daily lives.

As the carriage passed by, many eyes were following them. A child no more than five caught Sakura peeking through the curtain and smiled happily at her. Out of nervousness Sakura closed the curtain right away and sat up straight.

"We're almost there." Sasuke announced.

Sakura gulped. _"This is it."_ She thought.

About 15 minutes later the carriage came to a stop. Sakura suddenly felt anxious. She has never been to a village with just elves before. She could hear footsteps outside on Sasuke's side. Moments later the door on his side opened, sunlight penetrating the shaded carriage inside. Sakura squinted her eyes to adjust to the sudden light and as soon as her eyes adjusted she saw Suigetsu.

"We're here Sasuke." Suigetsu said.

Sasuke gracefully exited the carriage and was greeted by an elf with short dark hair and black eyes. A common trait among Uchiha elves.

"Sasuke! Welcome back." The Elf greeted while he patted Sasuke on the shoulder.

"It's been awhile Shisui." Sasuke greeted back.

"I was wondering when you would be back. How was the capital? A lot of humans I presume?" Shisui questioned curiously.

"Yes and elves have moved into the city as well. The Hyuga clan has taken residence in the city." Sasuke answered.

"The great Hyuga clan living in a city filled with humans? Now that's something. Well, I guess times are changing now." Shisui said in a surprised tone.

"I would like you to send word to my mother that I'm back..." Sasuke glanced over his shoulder. "And that I have a guest with me, a friend."

Shisui cocked an eyebrow.

As on cue, the carriage behind Sasuke moved slightly as Shisui leaned his head over so he could see who was coming out of the carriage.

Eye widened in surprise as Sakura came out of the carriage nervously.

Sakura quickly walked to Sasuke's side and gave a nervous smile. Shisui quickly glanced at Sakura from the foot up and gave her warm welcoming smile afterwards back.

"Welcome to the village, I'm Shisui Uchiha."

"I..I'm Sakura." Sakura said quietly.

 _"What the hell is wrong with you Sakura?! Speak normally!"_ Sakura screamed inside her head.

Shisui raised an eyebrow. "Eh, an Elvish name?"

Sakura looked towards the ground. "Ye-"

"Let's head inside, you are tired from traveling correct Sakura?" Sasuke interrupted glancing at the pinkette behind him.

Sakura stood up straight. "Yes I am quite tired from the trip." Sakura said as she feigned tiredness.

"I'll be showing her to her room. Jugo, bring Sakura's belongings to her room and Suigetsu bring the horses back to the stables." Sasuke commanded.

"Yes sir/boss!." Suigetsu and Jugo answered in unison.

"Follow me, Sakura." Sasuke said with an assertive voice.

Sakura looked at Shisui once more and he bowed his head. "I hope you enjoy your stay Miss Sakura." Shisui said.

Sakura smiled. "I'm sure I will."

As Sakura turned around to follow Sasuke through the front doors of the main Uchiha household. Before she stepped through the entrance she felt a sudden uneasiness. As if needles were digging into the back of her neck. Sakura turned her head around to look behind her only to see many pairs of red eyes on her. Sakura cast her eyes down to ground and slowly back up in front of her.

 _"Everything is going to be ok."_ Sakura whispered to herself.

* * *

A dark grey wooden door creaked open. The room was spacious with stone flooring and decorated with the traditional black and dark navy blue colors of the Uchiha Elves. The first thing Sakura noticed was the large bow styled window that was semi-covered with grey satin curtains.

"This will be your room for your stay." Sasuke said.

Sakura examined the room quickly and looked at Sasuke.

"It's a lot bigger than my room back at the shop." Sakura said with a slight laugh.

"Shall I send someone to help you get settled in?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura knew that she wouldn't be able to see Sasuke much due to him being back in his village. He had responsibilities to his village and family, yet her chest felt heavy.

Sakura walked into the room and picked up her luggage that was just inside the room by the door.

"It's fine, I didn't really pack much since we will only be here a couple of days. I'll be just fine. You go to your parents, I'm sure they will be happy that you're back." Sakura said with a smile.

Sasuke looked at her for a few moments. "If you need anything, call for Jugo or Suigetsu." Sasuke said as he turned around. Before he could close the door Sakura called out to him.

"Sasuke...thank you for this." Sakura said.

With his back turned towards her, he let out a smirk.

"Hn." And with that he closed the door between them, leaving Sakura alone.

Sakura picked up and carried her bag over to the large guest bed and opened it and started to unpack her belongings. She tucked her loose hair behind her ear and thought about what happened earlier.

"So many red eyes.." Sakura muttered to herself as she put her clothes away in the drawer near the bed.

"I can't blame them. I'm nothing but an outsider." Sakura said as she plopped herself on the bed, resting her head on a pillow and closed her eyes, drifting into sleep.

* * *

 _"Am I dreaming again?_

Everything was green around her. She can see the clear blue sky up above her. Sakura looked around, giant tall straight leaves stood tall and blowing gently with the wind.

 _"This isn't so bad."_ Sakura thought.

Suddenly a loud metal ringing invaded her ears. Sakura wanted to put her hands up to her ears and cover them to shield them from the metal shrieks but couldn't, nor could she move.

 _"What's going on?!"_ Sakura yelled in her head as shadows started looming over her. She could only watch as a large shadow come closer and closer over her head. Sakura closed her eyes ready for the impact.

Knock Knock Knock.

Eyes split open. Jade eyes look around frantically. Sakura sat up quickly and breathed heavily.

Knock Knock Knock.

Sakura look towards the door and caught her breath.

"Y-Yes?" Sakura tried to answer in a calm voice.

"It's Suigetsu, I came to check up on ya!"

Sakura dragged her legs over to the side of the bed and sat up straight and quickly fixed her long messy hair.

"I'll be out in a few minutes!" Sakura replied. Sakura slipped her shoes on and just before she opened the door, she took one last look in the standing oval mirror by the dresser.

 _"At least I didn't sweat this time."_ Sakura thought to herself.

Suigetsu was leaning against the wall next to the door of Sakura's room and yawned out of boredom. A faint click of a metal lock and the door finally opened and Sakura stepped out.

"Did you have a good rest?" Suigetsu questioned the pinkette.

Sakura was fixing the sleeve of her shirt. "Yeah, I'm well rested."

"Well, since you're all rested up...do you want a tour?" Suigetsu asked.

Sakura's eyes instantly lit up.

"Of course!" Sakura answered excitedly.

* * *

It was still light outside and Sakura looked around at her surroundings. Being an elven village, nature surrounded them. Sakura noticed a lot of oak trees.

"There are a lot of oak trees here." Sakura mentioned.

"Yeah, each elven clan has a tree that represents their clan. For the Uchiha elves, it's the oak tree. It represents courage and power, which I believe characterizes the Uchiha elves perfectly." Suigetsu said letting out a laugh.

After walking, Sakura and Suigetsu were a good distance away from the Main house.

"House? More like a castle..." Sakura scoffed.

Suigetsu stared off into the distance towards the Uchiha main house. Sakura glanced at Suigetsu.

"So..how did you come to this village? I don't wan't to be rude or anything but you and Jugo don't look like Uchiha elves."

The wind started to pick up and blew from behind the two.

"Jugo and I...we're outsiders. We do not belong to a specific clan. Jugo was already serving the Uchiha clan when I came along. I lost my family during the war and had no where else to go." Suigetsu paused.

"I admit, I've done things I'm not proud of. One of those things was stealing, mostly pick pocketing." Suigetsu sighed.

"I was in bad shape when Sasuke found me near beaten to death in an alley."

Suigetsu let out a laugh.

"And do you know the first thing he said to me?"

Sakura nodded. "What?"

"How pitiful you are." Suigetsu said trying to mimic Sasuke's voice.

Sakura laughed at Suigetsu's impression of Sasuke. "Yeah that does sound like him."

"And against his father's wishes Sasuke took me in. Of course that was many years ago and I'm on good terms with most people here." Suigetsu said.

"Curious." Suigetsu looked over at the pinkette. "How old are you again, Sakura?"

"I'm 27." Sakura answered.

" I see, I guess time flows much faster for you humans. All we elves have is time." Suigetsu said.

Sakura stared at the ground. "Actu-"

"The oldest elf in the village is Madara, now he looks like he's a middle aged man but that guy, he's ancient. I heard he's over a thousand years old. Can you believe that? Suigetsu said in Awe.

 _"Try a couple thousand.."_ Sakura thought to herself.

"Anyway, what were you trying to say before Sakura?" Suigetsu asked.

Sakura feigned a smile. "I forgot."

"It will eventually come back to you, I forget things sometimes too. Do you want to see the training grounds?" Suigetsu asked.

"Of course" Sakura answered and the two made their way back to the main grounds.

* * *

The familiar sound of metal clashing with each other entered Sakura's ears as she and Suigetsu moved closer to the training grounds. Once they came into view Sakura could see a group of Uchiha elves sparring with each other in close combat.

"Alright, so the training grounds are divided in 3 areas. Close combat, archery and agility. As you can see that group over there that area is where you train in close combat. I can take you over there and show you how Uchihas fight!" Suigetsu said with a hint of excitement in his voice.

Sakura looked over to the sparring group and focused her eyes on them for a quick moment before Suigetsu could notice her.

 _"Their eyes are all red, it's best if I don't approach them."_ Sakura thought to herself remembering events from earlier.

"Err.. how about over here?" Sakura suggested pointing in the opposite area which had targets lined up neatly in a row.

"Oh, here? That the archery training grounds, would you like to give it a try?" Suigetsu said smiling.

Sakura looked around and saw that there no other people around.

"Sure, but mind you, I never held a bow in my life." Sakura said.

"Gotta start somewhere right?" Suigetsu grinned.

Suigetsu walked Sakura over to a bow rack which had numerous bows of different sizes. He picked up a quiver and handed it to Sakura.

"This is a quiver, it hold all your arrows and it hangs on your back. The strap goes over your shoulder."

Sakura took a hold of the quiver and put it on.

"Now choose your bow" Suigetsu said with a mischievous look on his face.

Sakura looked at Suigestu in a suspicious manner for a brief moment and picked out a bow at random. It was a dark brown recurve bow. Sakura held it up to examine it. It was slightly heavy and felt smooth. Sakura peered over at Suigetsu who now looked like he was trying to suppress a laugh.

"What?" Sakura said annoyed.

"Nothing, nothing, you go on ahead." Suigetsu exclaimed.

"Ok, now you hold the bow up horizontally, you hold the bow with your non dominant hand and you draw the string with your dominant hand." Suigetsu explained.

Sakura pulled an arrow out from her quiver and held it in place next to the string and tried to pull on the string to no avail.

 _"Of course she can't use that bow, it is the tightest strung bow here. A beginner like her can't possibly draw that bow."_ Suigetsu thought.

Sakura tried to pull on the string but it wouldn't budge.

 _"Deep breaths Sakura.."_ Sakura thought to herself. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in then exhaled. The wind wind started picking up again. She opened her eyes and aimed at the target

"It's alright if you can't with that bow, I'll get you anoth-" Suigetsu stopped as his eye began to widen. Amethyst eyes struggling to follow the object the just literally passed him in a blink of an eye.

 _"What in the hell?!"_ Suigetsu yelled in his head.

Sakura lowered her bow to her side and brought up her right arm behind her head and scratched her head and let out a soft laugh.

"I guess I'm not really cut out for this archery stuff." Sakura looked at her target, unscathed. "I completely missed the target!" Sakura looked over to Suigetsu who was still dumbfounded.

"What's with that look?" Sakura asked with a confused look.

"T-Thats enough practice, the sun is starting to set, you should head back inside." Suigetsu said. "I need to put the bows away and retrieve your arrow."

"I can help you find it." Sakura offered.

Suigetsu started heading towards the direction where Sakura's arrow landed in between a pair of bushes. "I'm sure Sasuke is waiting for you back at the house."

After hearing Sasuke's name, Sakura's face lit up. "Are you sure?" Sakura asked once more.

Suigetsu's head turned and flashed a toothy grin. "Yeah you go on ahead, there's not much."

With that Sakura turned around and started walking back to the main house. Once Sakura was a good distance away, Suigetsu's grin turned into a frown.

"How the hell did she draw that bow..?" Suigetsu muttered to himself.

He made his way in the direction where the arrow seemed to have landed. He soon saw some of the feather tail of the arrow sticking out of a bush.

"There you are." Suigetsu said.

Suigetsu pushed aside some of the branches to get to the shaft of the arrow so he can pull it out. Suigetsu stopped as soon as he smelled something metallic. He pushed more branches away and his eyes narrowed at the sight before him. His quickly pulled the arrow out of the tree it was impaled on. Small droplets of scarlet fells from the arrowhead to the green grass below.

"You completely missed your target alright...just what were you truly aiming at, Miss Sakura?" Suigetsu whispered as his eyes loomed over the body of a dead snake.

* * *

The red orange glow of the sunset invaded into a large room, giving life to the stained glass windows which bore images of the Uchiha clan's symbol and the tree that represents them. A raven haired man made his way into the room with an air of tiredness around him.

"Sasuke?" A feminine voice called out.

Sasuke turned around to find his mother right behind him. Mikoto smiled at her son.

"Finally managed to escape from the elders I presume?" Mikoto said letting out a chuckle.

Sasuke relaxed and let out a sigh. "Danzo talks too much." Mikoto laughed.

"He does tend to ramble on for awhile. But you must not forget he is a village elder." Mikoto said scolding her son.

"I'm not a child, mother." Sasuke said in annoyance.

Mikoto walked up to Sasuke and ran her fingers through her son's black hair and ruffled his hair lovingly and smiled. "You will always be my child."

"Sasuke." A rough voice called out, echoing in the room.

Sasuke regained his composure. "Father."

"There are important matters that need to be discussed." Fugaku looked towards his wife. "Alone." Mikoto nodded and excused herself from the room.

* * *

"Which way again?" Sakura questioned as she walked through the courtyard.

The sound of multiple footsteps entered the courtyard and this prompted Sakura to quickly hide behind a wall of a small building.

 _"What am I doing?! I look like a criminal!" Ok Sakura, calm down."_ Sakura thought to herself.

Sakura heard a voice. Sakura peeked behind the wall and saw a familiar face, it was the elf that greeted Sasuke the moment they arrived there.

 _"It's Shisui."_ Sakura thought to herself. Sakura hid herself behind the stone wall and leaned against it, eavesdropping.

"I want additional guards around the village tonight. There has been sightings of outsiders near the village." Shisui commanded.

Sakura heard metal boots all step in unison. "Yes sir!"

Sakura heard several footsteps headed her way. Sakura stumbled backwards and quickly looked for a way out of the courtyard. She spotted a door 10 feet to her left and sped away to it. Sakura gripped the handle.

"Please be open.." Sakura muttered.

She heard a small click and the door opened and she slipped inside, closing the door.

Sakura pressed the side of her head against the door and heard the footstep approaching and stopped. She heard some unintelligible voices and then silence again. They left.

Sakura let out a sigh of relief, she didn't want to confront the other Uchiha elves. She turned around and looked around the dimly lighted room. Sakura took note of the amount of bookshelves in the room and some books scattered on a desk in the center of the room. The only source of light for the room was a small window. Sakura watch small dust particles float in the rays of the sun. Sakura's head began to hurt. Sakura brought her hand up gripping the side of her head. There was an object sitting at the window's edge. A small plant. Sakura went up to it and touched the leaves of the plant. This all seemed vaguely familiar.

"I see you discovered my study." A rough voice suddenly spoke out.

Startled, Sakura knocked over the plant and the clay pot it was held in broke as it hit the ground.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" Sakura looked up and saw who the person was.

"Madara?" I'm sorry I didn't know this was your study and I'm sorry for ruining your plant." Sakura bowed her head apologetically.

Madara stepped closer to Sakura and let out a light smile. "No worries, I can have one of the servants clean it up. I seldom get any visitors here, sorry if I started you. What brings you here?" Madara asked.

"Well..I was hiding from Shisui.." Sakura confessed, embarrassed.

Madara's eyes widened in surprise and let out a chuckle.

"Shisui, when he is with his guard squad, he can be quite intimidating. I assure you he means no harm." Madara said to Sakura.

Sakura stood up straight with confidence. "I actually came here to talk to you.. about the Haruno clan." Sakura said.

Madara walked over to his desk and sat down and reached for a book from inside one of the drawers and placed it on his desk.

"I know." Madara said.

Sakura was taken aback for a moment. "How did you know I was going to come here?

Madara motioned to the chair in front of his desk. "Take a Seat." Sakura nodded and sat down in front of the older Uchiha.

Madara pushed the thin book towards Sakura's direction. The cover of the book bore the same emblem as her pendant. Sakura traced her fingers lightly across the emblem.

"The Cherry Blossom Tree. The tree that symbolizes the Haruno clan." Sakura said quietly.

"Sakura..this isn't your first time being here." Madara said.

Sakura looked up confused. "What do you mean?"

Madara paused for a second. "You have the sight."

* * *

 **Hello everyone! I know it's been a REALLY long time since I've last posted a chapter. I had a bit of a writer's block for awhile. Please forgive me? Thank you all for being so patient! Thank you all for reading _Hana! I hope you look forward to the next chapter!~_**

 **-Aquarius Orchid**


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